The two-time Olympic Japanese figure skate gold medalist won another victory at Sunday’s Japanese national championships in Saitama. He took home the men’s singles crown in his country and was able to get into the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 2022.
Hanyu won the competition by 322.36 points. Uno Shoma, PyeongChang 2018 Silver Medalist, was second with a 295.82. Kagiyama Yuma, the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 Champion, who scored 292.41, was third with a 292.41.
Hanyu stated, “It’s an enormous load off the shoulders.” “I felt like I was going crazy before the warm-up period of six minutes began. I began to wonder how many times I would be in this situation again. I thought back to all the hard work I had done up to now.”
Hanyu tried a quadruple Axel, which has never been done before to open his skate. He landed on two feet after it was downgraded.
He made the historic leap a significant focus of this Olympic season, despite missing his Grand Prix events and dealing with a sprained ankle that prevented him from competing since April.
When asked about the quad Axel, the 27-year old winced. He said he felt it was part of the overall program, so he’s happy about that. “I will continue to work from hereon. ”
Later Sunday night, the Japanese Skating Federation officially named Hanyu Uno, Kagiyama, and Uno for the Olympic team.
Hanyu has talked about the quad Axel for the past couple of years. The 27-year old – who spent most of the last 18 months training at home in Japan away from the coach Brian Orser, has declared it his goal.
After trying multiple times during his training sessions, Hanyu settled into his Heaven and Earth program to start with a quad axel. His attempt was closer than ever, but he landed the jump on two feet and completed the last rotation on the ice. Hence the score became lower.
He was given a standing ovation and stayed on the ice for several minutes, taking in all he had accomplished.
Source: Olympics.com
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