Figure Skating
Thousands upon thousands of fans lined the streets of Sendai as Yuzuru Hanyu was treated to a hometown parade, six weeks after retaining his Olympic figure skating gold at PyeongChang 2018.
Event organisers estimated that 108,000 people had come out to catch a glimpse of their hero.
Journey to Sendai City Hall
The double Olympic champion took about 40 minutes to complete his kilometre-long passage to Sendai City Hall.
Competition for the best worst photos
However, amidst the throngs of people, trying to take a lasting image of Hanyu proved tricky for some.
Indeed it became a 'thing'.
A hashtag was created for people to add their failed photos to. Roughly translated as the 'competition of the low grade Yuzuru Hanyu photos'.
Here are some of the best examples of the worst possible moments:
Good position? Yes.
Near the front? Yes.
Yuzuru doing a nice 'pointy' gesture? Yes.
Perfect. Except for the 360° camera blocking the skating superstar's face. Next!
Spring has arrived in Sendai and the freshly-leaved trees played havoc for some.
Hanyu was subject to all kinds of bizarre foliage framing:
What are the chances of that? Yuzuru has been given a hat!
For some, it didn't get any better when trying to capture the moment in video format either:
Esteemed son
That fact that so many were present on the streets of Sendai pays testament to just how high esteem the city holds its most famous son.
On his part, Yuzuru did his best to keep them entertained along the way.
One element of his 'routine' picked up on was the 'reverse wave' he implemented:
Hanyu confirmed he will continue to be based in Canada, but spoke of his desire to help children learning to skate in his home region.
"If I can play any small role in making the children smile more, this would be great," the 23-year-old said after the parade.
Sendai and the surrounding area was left devastated by an earthquake and tsunami seven years ago.
The PyeongChang 2018 champion has made his own personal donations to the city and prefecture to help with the continuing recovery efforts.
Hanyu was also presented with some gifts from city officials:
Whilst not asked directly about his future plans, the figure skater did speak about the sense of accomplishment felt after his PyeongChang success.
"When they put the medal around my neck, I felt it's heaviness very much," he reflected.
"My feeling was that I put what I had out there and that I had achieved my dreams. It was a moment when I felt that, this time, I was able to deliver to all of you."