[2024.11.07] Yuzuru Hanyu x Ajinomoto VP Kurihara Hidefumi Interview

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Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001231.html

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20241107125155/https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001231.html

 

 

"Yuzuru Hanyu: The Only Male Figure Skater to Achieve the Super Slam and His Career Highlights... Celebrating his 30th birthday, National Tour Kicks Off in One Month"

 

Professional figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (29), who won the men's Winter Olympic gold medal twice in a row, reminisced about the 2022 Beijing Olympics, expressing his gratitude for the support he received in terms of conditioning, which he described as the 'culmination of his training.' He recently had a conversation with Kurihara Hidefumi (48), team leader of the "Victory Project (VP)" by Ajinomoto, which supports the Japanese Olympic team. In the interview, Hanyu looks back at his journey to attempt the unprecedented quadruple Axel (4.5-turn jump), leading to a world’s first certified "4A." With the pre-season for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics now underway, the insights gained by supporting Hanyu’s two Olympic golds will continue to shine brightly for the next generation of Japanese athletes. (Honorifics omitted) [Written by: Kinoshita Jun]

 

Spoiler

Yuzuru Hanyu (羽生結弦)
Born December 7, 1994, in Izumi Ward, Sendai City. He began figure skating at the age of 4. He moved to senior level in 2010. He has won the All-Japan Championships 6 times. In 2020, he became the first male figure skater to achieve the "Super Slam" by winning all major junior and senior titles: Junior Championships (2 titles), the Olympics, World Championships, Grand Prix Final, and Four Continents Championships. In 2016, he became the first to successfully land the quadruple loop. He also set the world record for the highest score in the Short Program (SP), Free Program (FP), and Total Score (total 19 times). After returning to Japan from Toronto, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he honed his skills in his hometown of Sendai. He graduated from Miyagi Prefecture's Tohoku High School and Waseda University's School of Human Sciences (distance learning program). On July 19, 2022, he turned professional, and in February 2023, he held the first-ever solo skating performance at Tokyo Dome in history. This December 7, on his 30th birthday, he will kick off his national tour Yuzuru Hanyu ICE STORY 3rd – Echoes of Life – TOUR (3 cities) at Saitama Super Arena. He is 172 cm tall and has blood type B.

 

Kurihara Hidefumi (栗原秀文)
Born May 2, 1976, in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo. He devoted himself to baseball from elementary school until graduating from Rikkyo University. He joined Ajinomoto in 1999, working in sales and the "Amino Vital" division, before becoming involved in the "Victory Project" (VP) in 2004. His failure to properly manage his conditioning during his university days, when he aspired to be a professional baseball player, became the driving force behind his work in supporting athletes. He is now considered the engine of the VP. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, he was in charge of supporting athletes including the judo siblings Abe, Tashiro Miku, and Tatsuru Saito, as well as the swimming delegation.

 

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. "Victory Project"
Launched in 2003 in collaboration with the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), the "Victory Project" is a nutritional and dietary support initiative for the Japanese national team. In 2010, the Ajinomoto National Training Center (NTC) opened the " Kachimeshi (Victory Meal)" cafeteria. Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, they have set up the "JOC G-Road Station" nutritional support facilities at both summer and winter Olympic venues, providing Japanese light meals with the support of VP members, chefs, and registered dietitians.

 

[yuzurujenn]

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Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001227.html

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20241107125417/https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001227.html

 

 

"Yuzuru Hanyu: Reminiscing about the 'culmination' of the Beijing Olympics and a behind-the-scenes look at his 4A challenge with Ajinomoto VP Kurihara Hidefumi / Interview 1"

 

Hanyu has walked a solitary path through three Olympic Games, exploring nutrition and refining both his mind and body. In the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he became the first Asian male skater to win gold. At the PyeongChang Games in 2018, he became the first man in 66 years to win consecutive gold medals. In Beijing in 2022, he made Olympic history by becoming the first to be certified with a quadruple axel. Alongside him, providing support, were Kurihara Hidefumi and the team from Ajinomoto's Victory Project (VP).

 

Spoiler

Kurihara: Someone told me that there was an athlete who was having some concerns about nutrition, body building, and health. That’s when I was introduced to Hanyu.

 

Hanyu: That’s right. It was before Sochi... before that. I was 17.

 

It was the end of April 2012. It was the summer after he had moved from Sendai to Toronto, Canada. At the time, he was a second-year high school student with no interest in food at all.

 

Kurihara: The first thing he told me was, "I don't really like to eat."

 

Hanyu: I don't have a strong stomach to begin with, so sometimes I can eat and sometimes I can't. It was right after I'd gone to Canada, and there were times when the local ingredients and cuisines "suited me" and "didn't suit me." In that situation, we started by thinking about what was easy to eat, then how and when to take in the nutrients. When I couldn't eat, I was taught a lot, such as how to eat supplements. In our sport, we need to restrict ourselves (for jumping), and I was afraid of my body becoming heavy. I had a strong image of food as a diet rather than nutrition (intake).

Ajinomoto has been supporting the Japanese national team since 2003, helping athletes with "food and amino acids." This year marked the 22nd anniversary of their partnership with the Olympics, starting from the 2004 Athens Games to the Paris 2024 Games. Hanyu has been receiving "exclusive" support from them for over 10 years in winter figure skating.

 

Kurihara: Until Sochi, we basically focused only on physical and mental “health” and took the step of “eating three well-balanced meals every day.  Figure skating in particular is a competition in which you express your emotions and worldview to judges and spectators through your performance. So, you absolutely had to be mentally healthy as well.

 

Hanyu: Leading up to Pyeongchang, the themes shifted to "weight" and "activity level." When did you start that?

 

Kurihara: It was two years after Sochi. While managing weight and body composition, I quantified daily training volume and intensity as 'load (stress)' and monitored changes in condition over time, aligning it with performance.

 

[yuzurujenn]

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Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001228.html

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20241107131223/https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001228.html

 

 

"Yuzuru Hanyu: The Dream of Achieving the Unprecedented Quadruple Axel... The Key Is 'Tendon Reflex,' Along with Carb Restriction and Pressure Training / Interview 2"

 

Hanyu has won every title on the ice, including the six major titles at world championships known as the Super Slam, but his final dream in competition was to successfully complete a quadruple axel.

 

Spoiler

Hanyu: In terms of nutritional management, the approach leading up to the PyeongChang Olympics became the basis. Around the ages of 23 or 24, after winning two consecutive gold medals, I started saying, 'I don’t think I like feeling heavy.' Like a marathon, it’s a sport where the damage to the internal organs is greater due to constant shaking, so I also took care of my internal organs (to prevent food from remaining in my stomach). We also discussed whether it would be better to stay at the weight when I was performing at my best, or whether it would be better to build up muscle strength, as I was aiming for a quadruple axel.

 

Kurihara: I could tell at a glance that you had trained your legs a lot before the Beijing Olympics, such as squats to strengthen the hamstrings (back of the thighs), so I was surprised and you said, “You can tell? But…” And then you added, "The muscle strength for jumping is looking good. Now it’s all about the tendons." I was just about to say that the key to jumping a 4A is "tendon reflexes." Apparently, you had been thinking the same thing.

 

Hanyu: In terms of global trends, research is progressing rapidly and some things are being scientifically proven.

 

"Tendons" connect muscles and bones and act like springs, storing and reusing elastic energy. To use this tendon reflex to jump the quadruple Axel, Hanyu actively took amino acids and worked to strengthen his body in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. This moment was one of synergy between Hanyu’s deep understanding of body mechanics and Kurihara’s suggestions.

 

Hanyu laughed, saying, "I’ve been brainwashed by Kurihara," and added, "I’m really hungry to know ‘how can I improve.’ My own knowledge was never enough. That’s why I asked Kurihara and also did my own research. We shared everything, and it helped us refine things."

 

On June 1, 2021, before the Beijing Olympic season began, he held an online meeting with his trainer. Everything was aimed for the success of the quadruple Axel.

 

Kurihara: We discussed everything from tendon reflex to intense glycolytic training and aerobic training. I also developed a new amino acid that makes the tendons healthier, so I designed my training with the hypothesis that it would definitely benefit the 4A.

 

Hanyu: There was interval training, low-carb (sugar restriction) to pressure (blood flow restriction) training and heart rate monitoring, and both explosive and endurance training. By then, it was no longer just about 'health'; the foundation was already laid, and everything was built on top of that. (The Beijing Olympics) was the culmination of it all.

 

[yuzurujenn]

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Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001229.html

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20241107135935/https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001229.html

 

 

"Yuzuru Hanyu: A Touching Exhibition, ‘The best performance until the very end’ – Never-Before-Revealed Story / Interview 3"

 

"Life isn't all about being rewarded. But I’m happy now even though I wasn’t rewarded."

 

Such was the famous quote that emerged from Hanyu at the Beijing Olympics. He ended up in 4th place. He was struck by bad luck when his quadruple Salchow was blocked by a hole in the ice. Although he missed out on a medal in his third consecutive Olympics with a surprising 8th place finish in the short program, his challenge to focus all his energy on the men’s free skate on February 10, 2022, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, remains a vivid moment. The world’s first certified "4A" (quadruple Axel) was etched into Olympic history.

 

Spoiler

Kurihara: There’s something I’ve really wanted to ask you. The 4A was officially certified in Beijing… but it was still a disappointing result. Yet, you still contacted me for the exhibition (in 10 days), saying, "Kuri-san, I’ll gather energy again" and "I’ll do it." I think it was 3 or 4 days after the free skate. How did you feel during that process of replenishing energy and glycogen in the days that followed?

 

Hanyu: Honestly, I was really disappointed with my performance. Of course, I didn’t plan to do the 4A, but while some people see exhibitions as a kind of festival, for me it’s a place to showcase the qualities of an athlete. I thought that "all impressions would be decided" by how well I could show myself there. I was feeling down, and I thought to myself, "Why did I sprain my ankle again?" (He injured his right ankle before the free skate). But I couldn’t let my guard down. I thought, "I'll give it my best until the very last performance."

 

Kurihara: I was watching it on TV in the cafeteria of the athlete's village, and I was crying my eyes out. It was the best performance. It’s a moment I will never forget in my life, and I absolutely wanted to tell you that.

 

Even now, after turning professional and successfully performing the first-ever solo ice shows, that determination has not changed.

 

Hanyu: Even now, I’m still in that same mindset. How can I deliver the best performance until the very last moment? I’ve continued along that path. My right ankle was really hurting, but more than that, I wanted to show something amazing. Athletes compete in competitions with the support of so many people, including Kuri-san. In a way, I wished I could have given everything in the free skate, but I couldn’t, and it was frustrating. So, I wanted to put everything into the exhibition. I wanted to repay everyone who’s supported me by showing my best every time and producing results. That was both the pressure and a driving force for me.

 

[yuzurujenn]

*machine translation*

 

 

Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001230.html

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20241107142559/https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202411060001230.html

 

 

"Yuzuru Hanyu: Insights from the Two-Time Olympic Champion – 'Research Based on Me' – Knowledge Accumulated as Guidance for Shows and His Juniors / Interview 4"

 

At the Beijing Olympics, Kurihara, who supported the entire Team Japan, entered the athlete village and worked with a chef based outside the village to provide Hanyu with 'victory meals.' He worked hard to maintain and even increase his lean body mass. Similar to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where the men's events were scheduled in the morning, Hanyu was required to wake up around 4 a.m., and Kurihara carefully coordinated the schedule with him.

 

Spoiler

Hanyu: The Olympics have a different schedule compared to regular competitions, so for example, there’s a routine for athletes, like 'meals must be eaten a certain number of hours before.' But often, it's not possible to follow that. We had many discussions about things like 'Should we have a snack here?' and other details.

 

Kurihara: We even went as far as discussing areas close to the science behind it in detail. All that’s left was to ensure that you were sent out onto the ice in the best shape. That was my role.

 

Hanyu: In figure skating, I was basically the only one at competitions (with exclusive support), so I think the tension while waiting for the results must have been different. It was always like, "I did what I had to do, now all I can do is wait" (laughs). I probably seemed "troublesome," but I learned a lot. I didn’t even know how many calories were in a bowl of rice, but they helped build the foundation for me to think about physical conditioning.

 

On the other hand, the insights gained from this support were fully accumulated on Ajinomoto’s side.

 

Hanyu: Every week, I would submit data on my training load and body composition and combine it with my activities to assess how my condition was. I think it probably became a part of the research as well. Did the formula match the intensity that an athlete actually feels? Even though I was only 19, I was already an Olympic gold medalist. So, over the course of more than 10 years, I think they conducted research using me as a base, examining body composition, activity levels, and calorie consumption.

 

After turning professional, he continues to shine in unprecedented ice shows, performing alone for over 90 minutes. His national tour, announced on October 4th, will begin on December 7th, the day he turns 30. He will once again prove his evolution. In the world of competition, the trial and error between Hanyu and Kurihara will be passed down as a success story. At the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympics, it will serve as a clear guide to light the way for his juniors.