Forums

2022.07.20   Source: https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/15161?page=1 Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20250629063940/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/15161?page=1   Half of 1.4 Billion People Read the News! What Were Chinese Fans Most Curious About Regarding Yuzuru Hanyu's 'Retirement'?   On July 19, figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu's announcement of his 'retirement from competition' became major news, but it was neighboring China that showed an even stronger reaction than Japan. That same morning, when the news broke that he would be holding a retirement press conference, Chinese media responded immediately. Social media in China was abuzz with the topic all day long.    

*machine translation, inaccuracies exist*   Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/日本男子フィギュアスケートFan-Book-Cutting-Edge-2009/dp/478996177X/ Source: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4595111298865429   Yuzuru Hanyu - Interviewed at Sendai Ice Rink in mid-August 2008   In men's figure skating, athletes tend to develop more slowly compared to women's singles. Even Takahiko Kozuka took six years to reach the podium at the Japan Junior Championships, and Nobunari Oda once failed to make it past the short program at that same event.   Even so, what about Yuzuru Hanyu? In just his second year after moving up early from the novice ranks, he placed third at the Japan Junior Championships. In the free skate alone, he actually outscored his senior rivals to take first place! That summer, he even landed a triple Axel (3A), showing a shockingly early level of maturity.    

*Machine translation. Inaccuracies exist*   [2022.02.22]   Source: https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/852137?page=1 Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20220222022629/https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/852137?page=1     "It was a personal victory for Hanyu" - The reason why the original "quadruple king" Timothy Goebel praised Yuzuru Hanyu's "quadruple axel challenge" 《Exclusive interview》   　Timothy Goebel became the first skater to land a quadruple Salchow in a competition in March 1998, and the first skater to land three quadruple jumps in one program at Skate America in 1999. After retiring from competition in 2006, he graduated from Columbia University and New York University’s graduate school, and now works at Google. We spoke to him in an exclusive interview about Yuzuru Hanyu's challenge to the quadruple Axel at the Beijing Olympics, and his message to the skaters who will lead the figure skating world in the future.