Olympics 2022: The Ice Prince Yuzuru Hanyu By Shirley Dong
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idely regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters of all time, Japan’s Ice Prince, Yuzuru Hanyu is the first Asian men’s single skater to win gold during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He defended his title again at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. All eyes were on this year’s Olympics to determine whether the two-time reigning champion would be the first figure skater in 94 years to win three consecutive men’s single figure skating titles since 1928. However, Hanyu himself suggested he was more focused on being able to land a quadruple axel than obtaining his third gold medal. The risky quadruple axel is referred to as “Holy Grail of ice skating” or “the king of jumps’’ due to the difficulty of completing 4.5 rotations. This move has maintained its reputation as the only quad jump that has never been successfully executed in competition. He told the Japan Times, “the main reason I chose to compete in Beijing is because I want to land the quad.” To everyone’s surprise, he had missed an opening jump of his short program - the quad salchow - due to getting caught in a “hole on the rink.” It turned the planned quadruple Salchow to a single Salchow, which left him with a surprisingly low score of 95.15 in the short program and in eighth place. But many fans rushed to social media to voice their support and sympathy. Taiwanese fan Deng Yi-Hsein said in an Insider interview, “A single error does not take anything away from what a legend he is. He will always be a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a prince in our hearts.” Another fan said, “Every performance is his best.”
Yuzuru Hanyu at the Beijing Olympics
Image from Insider
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