Typical Jumps (Japanese: よくある飛躍 Yoku Aru Hiyaku) is the twenty-fourth chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
Story[]
Inori struggles as she attempts to learn the higher-difficulty triple jumps for her upcoming competition with Hikaru. Tsukasa demonstrates a Lutz for her, and Inori is thrilled to see him jumping more recently. However, she tries to suppress her emotions and maintain a serious demeanor, which instead comes across as a lack of enthusiasm, causing Tsukasa to doubt himself.
Later, Tsukasa goes to pick up a guest coach who agreed to instruct Inori on jumps after her victory at the Chubu Block Tournament. Upon arriving at the meeting spot, he only sees what appears to be a middle schooler fishing. However, after the person catches a fish and recognizes Tsukasa, it turns out he is actually the guest coach.
The guest coach, Kakeru Uobuchi, is introduced to the club. His youthful appearance surprises the students, who question his age, only to learn that he is already 32. He brings with him a special harness, which he uses to lift students and assist them with learning jumps — something he learned from overseas coaches. He explains that he doesn't need height or arm strength to operate the harness, and is even able to lift Tsukasa, because the skaters themselves are already producing force.
With the help of the harness, Inori instantly lands a Triple Flip and a Triple Lutz first try, and is miraculously able to continue landing them even without the harness. Tsukasa is flabbergasted, but is told that it's actually quite normal. Kakeru later explains that overseas, skaters typically have separate coaches for jumps and skating, whereas in Japan, a single coach is expected to cover everything. This is why he has made it his mission to help out clubs all across Japan as a freelance jumping coach.
A few days later, Tsukasa surprises the club by bringing a harness of his own. Just like Coach Uobuchi, he's immediately able to help the skaters land new jumps. Yuki Uyama in particular, bursts into tears after finally landing the Double Axel she had long struggled with, which had prevented her from passing Level 6 and qualifying for Novice.
Tsukasa moves on to training with Inori. Her longer jump range presents a challenge, as it is harder to keep up while operating the harness. During one of her jumps however, Tsukasa unexpectedly trips on a hole in the ice and falls heavily onto the ground.