Yuzuru Hanyu: The Story of the Olympic Champion and the World Record Holder
Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater, who, at his 23, has already won 2 Olympic Games, 2 World Championships and 4 Grand Prix Finals. He is considered as one of the greatest men’s singles skater. And, today, we are going to tell his story.
Contents
Early Life and Junior Career
Yuzuru Hanyu poster
Yuzuru Hanyu was born on December 7, 1994, in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. His name symbolizes confidence, strength and straightness. Yuzuru has asthma, but it didn’t prevent him from doing sports. Besides figure skating, he studied human informatics and cognitive sciences at Waseda University.
Hanyu started to skate at the age of 4. He started to take part in competitions in 2004/05 season. He won 2 gold medals in Novice B category at 2004 Japan Novice Championships. In 2007, he won that competition in Novice A category.
Internationally, Yuzuru debuted at 2008/09 ISU Junior Grand Prix, where he was ranked 5th overall. Taking part in 2009 World Junior Championships, he finished 12th overall. In 2010, he became the winner of the World Junior Championships. In 2009/10 season, he also won the Junior Grand Prix Final.
World Championships and Four Continents
Yuzuru Hanyu print
Yuzuru Hanyu debuted at the Senior World Championships in 2011/12 season and became a bronze medalist. In 2013/14, he claimed gold at the World Championships. The following two seasons, he was a silver medalist before claiming one more gold in 2016/17 season. In 2017, he also set a new record, becoming the first skater to score above 220 points in free skating.
Hanyu is the first men’s singles skater from Asia to win multiple World Championships. In addition, the figure skater is 3-time silver medalist of Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. He also won Finlandia in 2012/13 and 2013/14 as well as Nebelhorn trophy in 2011/12.
Grand Prix
Yuzuru Hanyu poster
The figure skater debuted at the senior level of Grand Prix in 2010/11 season, finishing 4th at NHK Trophy and 7th at Cup of Russia. He gained his first Grand Prix event victory in 2011/12 season, claiming gold at Rostelecom Cup. He qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where he was placed 4th.
In 2012/13 season, Hanyu became a silver medalist of the Grand Prix Final after winning NHK Trophy and being second at Skate America. The following 4 seasons from 2013/14 to 2016/17, the athlete was the gold medalist of the Grand Prix Final. In that period, he also was a gold medalist of NHK Trophy as well as silver medalist of Bompard, Cup of China, Rostelecom and Skate Canada.
Olympic Games
Poster of Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuzuru took part in 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. In Sochi, he claimed his first Olympic gold, becoming the first Asian figure skater in men’s singles to win the Olympic gold and the youngest male skater to win the title since 1948. He defended his title in 2018.
He became the first men’s single skater to win Olympic gold for two times in a row since 1952. A curious fact is that Hanyu’s medal at 2018 PyeongChang Olympics became the 1000th one awarded at the Winter Olympic Games.
So, Yuzuru Hanyu is a really very talented figure skater, who has already gained many trophies and awards, though he is very young. We are looking forward to witness the athlete’s other victories.
