VICTORY
7h
Yuzuru Hanyu (27), the men’s figure skating champion of the 2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, held a public practice “SharePractice” at the local ice rink Sendai on August 10th. It was also broadcast live on his official YouTube channel “HANYU YUZURU”, which was just opened on the 7th, and was watched by more than 100,000 people for regarding 1 hour and 40 minutes. From the figure skating world’s first effort, he said at the professional conversion interview on July 19th, “I want to always skate so that you can feel the tension that comes from doing my best as an athlete.” A part of my thoughts oozed out.
Ice Rink Sendai is the starting point for Hanyu, who started skating at the age of four. On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck during practice. He has donated more than 30 million yen in royalties from his book to Link, which continues to face severe management due to a decline in users even following moving to Canada. “It’s special to be able to train here. I don’t have the opportunity to train with different players like I used to, but I have a special feeling that I can improve myself even if I don’t leave my hometown and train in my hometown. A little bit of my beloved hometown. But I want to do my best, including activities to support them.” 88 reporters from 38 companies gathered for the first step as a professional skater, which started from such a fond stage.
At 11:37 am, Hanyu showed up at the rinkside. She said, “I think figure skating has a glamorous image, but I wanted people to see how unrefined it is, and how desperately they are struggling to practice.” She takes her gear out of her trunk and warms up. She generously reveals her usual appearance. Even with flexibility, the range of motion of the shoulder blades is wide, the strength of the trunk that does not shake even if you shake your hands violently left, right, up and down, the rotation axis is beautiful even in the triple and half jump on land, everything is first class once more. I might tell that it was a good product.
At 12:11 p.m., I finally stood on the ice. For live distribution, he operated the equipment himself with the music that had completed the procedure for using the music in advance. Playing the second half of the Beijing Winter Olympics free skate “Heaven and Earth”, he gradually increases his voltage, such as performing a 4-3 continuous toe loop, a 4-4 toe loop, 1 Euler-3 salchow, and so on. The first thing that caught my eye was the “Hope & Legacy” free skate that won the 2017 World Championships. The world’s first successful quadruple loop, followed by a triple toe loop, landed brilliantly. It’s a huge move that was never shown in a match, but “I wanted to show that it has so much potential.” After that, she repeatedly tried the quad axel (quadruple and a half jump), which she was unable to complete until the end of the competition. The image of the professional skater that Hanyu aspires to emerges from that figure.
The number of viewers on the official channel, which exceeded 60,000 during the warm-up stage, quickly increased to over 100,000. The chat section was flooded with comments such as “Is it really free?” in not only Japanese but also Chinese, English, and Korean. Meanwhile, the biggest highlight of the day will be reached. 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics free skate “SEIMEI”. The program, which began with Hanyu’s breathing and familiar poses, quickly gained momentum. The first time, the quadruple salchow in the latter half of the performance becomes a double, and the voice leaks “Ah!” in the air. I immediately put the music back on and went to the second time. However, this time the quadruple toe loop landed on both feet, and the voices of encouragement echoed in the rink, saying, “One more time from the beginning” and “Last”. Third win. Landed all 8 jumps, including 4 quadruples. “I never thought I’d do it three times. It was a normal training,” he said with his hands on his knees, and a smile of relief appeared on his face. And in the boxed interview following the open practice, the reason why he was particular regarding perfect content was “My goal this time is to perform ‘SEIMEI’, which has the same composition as the Pyeongchang Olympics, without any mistakes. It’s better than that time. I had such a strong will within myself that I wanted to prove that.”
I saw the pride of a professional skater in the overly intense 1 hour and 40 minutes. Regarding the unfinished, unfinished move, he said, “I want to do my best so that people can see me getting off the quad axel. If there is an opportunity to jump in the program, it is the best, but the probability is still high. I did it once more today, but despite my best efforts, I’m still only doing 4 and a half rotations at the All Japan Championships (at the end of last year).It puts a lot of strain on my left foot.But my left foot is better than when I was at the All Japan Championships. But my right ankle is getting better, so I’m able to take on the challenge. I want to use what I’ve learned from the PyeongChang Olympics, and I want to improve even more.”
What kind of future will you draw as you begin the second chapter as a figure skater? “To a certain extent, the prospects for the end of the year have become clear. I’ve decided little by little that I want to do this and that by the end of the year, and I’m practicing for it. I’ll just let you know. I’m thinking of letting you know when the time comes, so it’s still a secret.” I can’t take my eyes off every move of the Senryo actors.
