Yuzuru HANYU

Japon

Patinage Artistique

Médailles olympiques

Participations3

Première participationSotchi 2014

Année de naissance1994

Biographie

It's hard to argue that anyone has had a bigger impact on modern-day figure skating than Hanyu Yuzuru, the two-time Olympic champion.

Hanyu’s technique is outstanding, but he combines his ability with an astonishing creativity and artistry. He makes difficult moves like the Beillmann spin and the doughnut spin look simple.

Battling through multiple injuries, the Japanese star has changed the landscape of the sport since his first Olympic title at Sochi 2014. A huge presence in Japan, he is a star of TV and film as well as one of the country’s most famous athletes.

Aged just 19, Hanyu became the first Asian man to win an Olympic gold medal when he triumphed in Sochi, becoming the youngest men's champion since 1948. He followed up by defending his Olympic title in PyeongChang 2018, becoming the first man to go back-to-back for Olympic gold since 1952 (Richard Button).

During his career, Hanyu has also won two world titles and four Grand Prix Finals – cementing himself as perhaps one of Japan's finest ice athletes, and also his place as one of the greatest figure skaters in history. Hanyu was also the first skater to successfully land a quadruple loop jump in ISU competition, doing so in 2016.

He has broken an extraordinary 18 world scoring records, and was also the first man ever to break the 100-point mark in the short program, the first to gain 200 points in a free skate, and the first to get a combined total of 300.

Quadruple Axel chase

Hanyu has a knack for pushing boundaries – aside from being the first to land the quadruple loop, he made his goal for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games the quadruple Axel.

Featuring four-and-a-half rotations in the air, no one has successfully landed the jump – the next frontier in figure skating jumping.

As far back as in 2019, Hanyu had spoken of learning the jump; he unveiled a first public attempt at the 2021/22 Japanese nationals, although he landed on two feet and the jump was downgraded. He would go on to attempt the jump once more on Olympic ice, seeking a slice of history.

While he under-rotated the attempt and fell, Hanyu told reporters afterwards: "I rotated the Axel as well as I could. I went for it, and it's something I'll cherish forever."

He added after the Games' exhibition gala: "On the quad Axel, I couldn’t have tried it on a more fitting stage and with more support than I could have asked for.

“I gave it everything I have. People say I’m almost there, I’m close but it’s easier said than done. I think I’ve taken my quad Axel as far as it can."

Beijing 2022

All eyes were on Hanyu at Beijing 2022 to see if he could become the first skater since before the Second World War to win three straight Olympic gold medals.

However, Hanyu's quest for a three-peat took a big hit with his very first jump in the short program. To gasps from the crowd, he singled a planned quadruple Salchow – later explaining he hit a hole or rut in the ice. That left him in a disappointing eighth place.

So it was a measure of Hanyu's pure ability that, despite falling on the quad Axel and also on a quad Salchow in the free skate, the Japanese superstar still hauled himself up by four places to finish fourth overall.

"I fell on the Axel, fell on the Salchow but nailed everything in the second half. It's about falling and getting back up again," he said after the skate.