The "Ice Prince" has Retired from Competitions
The "Ice Prince" has Retired from Competitions
By Emma D.
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Yuzuru Hanyu greeting an audience at Capital Indoor Stadium after practice on February 14, 2022, at the Beijing Olympics
The feeling of the cold air as it hits my face and as I glide on the ice. Breathing in and out, the cold air made me shiver causing goosebumps along my arms. Swaying to the music playing through my headphones imagining that I was competing in the Olympics. What are the Olympics anyways?
The Olympics Games or Olympics is the leading international sporting event featuring summer and winter competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions, and I'm sure we’ve all heard about it.
Yuzuru Hanyu was a Japanese competitive figure skater, he ended his career on July 19, 2022. During His career, he won a two-time Olympic champion, a two-time World champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final champion, and more.
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu speaking at a press conference on July 19, 2022, in Tokyo.
Hanyu began skating at the age of four after his sister's coach Mami Yamada had suggested he try the sport instead of being a nuisance during his sister's training. Yamada noted Hanyu's impatience when he first got onto the ice. He came running and jumped on the ice, then fell hard, hitting his helmet on the ice, and quickly got up and running again.
However, Yamada praised Hanyu for his ability to express his sincerity. After coaching him until the end of his 2nd grade in elementary school, Yamada had to move to another prefecture and asked Shōichirō Tsuzuki, former coach of Japan's first World Figure Skating Championships medalist Minoru Sano, to coach Hanyu and "not put his talent to waste".
At the end of 2009, Hanyu won a gold medal at the Junior Grand Prix final in Tokyo, and the following year he claimed gold at the 2010 junior world championships. Moving up to the senior level, Hanyu enjoyed remarkable success, winning silver medals at the 2011 and 2013 Four Continents championships and a bronze at the 2012 world championships.
At the 2014 Winter Games in Russia, Hanyu became the first Japanese man to win a gold Olympic medal in figure skating. Then he added another Olympic medal four years later at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.
Yuzuru Hanyu, wearing a suit and bowing deeply as he took to the stage during a news conference in Tokyo, said that “he will retire from competitions but would continue his career as a professional athlete.”
He said, “he would keep trying to achieve the quadruple axel.” Hanyu said he had considered ending his competitive career after PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018, but decided instead to continue to fight for his goal of the quadruple axel.
“As far as competitions go, as far as their results, I think I would have been able to take all the things I wanted to take. I think I would have grown in such a way that I don’t seek that kind of evaluation anymore,” he said.
The quadruple axel remains on his mind, he admitted. The skating sensation said he would “work harder” so he could one day “land it successfully in front of everyone”. "I want to continue skating in a way that is more with the current times," Hanyu said.
Yuzuru Hanyu on the ice after attempting to do the quadruple axel at the Beijing Olympics 2022.
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