* machine translation, inaccuracies may exist

Info: https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/223662

Source: https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/225873

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<Exclusive Interview> Yuzuru Hanyu: "The journey of giving back continues"

(web version)

A bronze medal at the World Championships. Behind this glorious achievement was a feeling of gratitude towards those who supported him. A heart that grew stronger through the painful experience of the earthquake, and the decisions he made to become the perfect skater. The young prodigy of the figure skating world reflected on this breakthrough season.

His passionate performance continues to shine brightly and undiminished even after time has passed.

Yuzuru Hanyu won the bronze medal at his first World Figure Skating Championships, held in Nice, France, in March. At 17, he became the youngest Japanese man ever to achieve this feat. The skater, who had been highly anticipated since winning a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in his third year of junior high school, made a huge leap forward in his second season as a senior skater. He showcased his highly precise quadruple jumps, exceptional flexibility, and captivating passion.

Nearly a month had passed since then. When Hanyu arrived at the agreed meeting place in Sendai, he spoke with a somewhat bashful smile.

“Perhaps I'm overestimating myself, but I think it was quite something that I managed to do so well at my first appearance.”

It was no overestimation.

Especially considering that he had performed despite an accident that had led him to say:

“That night, I even considered withdrawing.”

It was the evening of March 29. Hanyu was practicing in preparation for the short program the following day. During the season, he had struggled to land his quadruple toe loop consistently in the short program. So, instead of stopping after the usual two or three attempts, he continued, doing five or six.

That was when it happened.

“It was probably because fatigue had built up.” He came down short of a full rotation on a jump, and pain shot through his right ankle. He had sprained it.

That night, he couldn't walk. By the next morning, his ankle had swollen considerably.

“When I couldn't walk, I thought, ‘Will I be able to skate tomorrow? Maybe I should withdraw.’”

Even so, he chose to compete.

“The team doctor, the trainer, my mother, who had come all the way there, and various other people were supporting me, so I felt I had to do my best.”

Having decided to compete, he finished only seventh in the short program, with his triple Lutz reduced to a single rotation.

“I hadn't anticipated that the second jump in my opening quadruple combination would end up as a double. I was also shaken by the fact that I couldn't land the triple Axel cleanly afterward, and I think that's when thoughts about my ankle started creeping into my mind. I'd also gradually been favoring my injured foot. Since the Lutz requires taking off from the right foot, I think I hesitated.”

Of course, he was disappointed that he had failed to reach his target of finishing in the top six in the short program, but there was something he regretted even more.

“What frustrated me most of all was getting injured. The sprain had led to this result, and I also reflected on how I had practiced.”

However, the free skate awaited him the very next day after the short program. How did he manage to pull himself together?

“I thought deeply about the people around me. My mother even said, 'Considering your condition, you did a great job, didn't you?' We talked about how I was only able to perform at all thanks to the doctor and trainer who worked quickly to get me back on the ice, the audience who cheered me on, and the people back in Sendai. When I thought about all the people who were supporting me, I felt that, even though I was injured, I would do my best in the free skate regardless.”

Then came the free skate. His program was "Romeo and Juliet." He successfully landed a quadruple jump at the very beginning. He continued skating without mistakes. The cheers and applause grew louder, and the excitement in the arena continued to build.

But then, an unexpected fall occurred.

“I fell while gliding on my left foot, and I think it was partly because I’d been putting extra strain on my left foot to protect my right one. Of course, I was still frustrated. On the next jump, how should I put it? It wasn’t exactly polite language, but I was practically jumping while saying, ‘Damn it!’”

He placed first outright in the free skate's technical score, surpassing gold medalist Patrick Chan.

Even after falling, Hanyu did not lose his composure and immediately got back up. Reflecting on his state of mind at the time, he said:

“The moment I fell, I could hear the huge applause that erupted around the arena. Right then, I thought, ‘I have to keep giving it my all.’ Competing at the World Championships is pressure in itself, but it's precisely because it was the World Championships that I was able to receive such tremendous cheers and support. So I took them in and drew strength from them.”

After the fall, he finished the program without any further mistakes, drawing even louder applause. He raised his right hand in a gesture of victory, then lowered it as if in a bow.

“First, I touched my right foot and said to it, ‘You really held on all the way to this point, didn't you?’ Basically, I just wanted to thank my foot. That's what I was thinking.”

He scored 173.99 in the free skate and 251.06 overall, substantially improving his personal bests in both the free skate and total score. Moreover, his free skate TES ranked first outright, ahead of gold medalist Patrick Chan. Despite the fall, he delivered such a compelling performance that it hardly felt as though an accident had occurred, leaving the audience deeply satisfied.

“I think it still hurt quite a bit when I took off for jumps and landed. It's just that I was able to concentrate so well that I didn't feel the pain. That's one way of putting it.”

The pain returned while he was answering questions from reporters in the mixed zone.

“Because I was standing the whole time, the pain gradually got worse. But when I thought about how I’d been able to compete until the very end thanks to the support of so many people, I didn’t want to talk about my foot hurting. Also, I think media interviews are an opportunity to get your own message across to a lot of people. So I felt I had to handle that responsibility properly, too. As soon as the interview was over, I took off my skates in no time and asked them to ice my foot. (laughs)”

Keeping his sprained ankle completely under wraps throughout the competition was characteristic of Hanyu. In the end, Hanyu never publicly revealed during the competition that he had sprained his ankle.

“I absolutely didn’t want to talk about it. Some people involved in the event and some media friends saw the icing and taping, but when the doctor and trainer were asked about it, they said, ‘There have been quite a few people with sprains lately, so this is just a precaution.’ They said that for my sake.”

When he's happy, he lets his smile shine without holding back. Sometimes he jokes around by making faces or doing funny gestures, which is part of his charm. On the other hand, when things go wrong, he shows his frustration openly, pounding his chest and expressing his regret. This is Hanyu, fiercely competitive and unwilling to lose. Deep down, he didn't want anyone to see him showing weakness because of his sprained ankle, so he kept it hidden until the very end. It was another side of him that was characteristic of his style.

After the competition, he reviewed footage of his performance to analyze how he had skated. Looking back at the performance, he explained what he believed had allowed him to deliver such an outstanding skate.

“I occasionally noticed myself protecting my injured foot. But I think the pain actually made me more deliberate in how I performed. Being able to stay calm also helped a lot. During the final step sequence, when I started shouting, the cheers and applause were truly incredible. They really gave me a push. I used that energy to perform the steps. The final jump was something I had to do on my own, so I made sure to conserve my stamina beforehand. You could say I had saved up my energy, or you could say I managed it all through calm judgment. Most importantly, I was able to perform to that extent because I drew strength from so many people. I owe my third-place finish at the World Championships to all of them.”

Before the season began, Hanyu had set himself the goal of “giving it my all right to the very end.” And just as he had promised, he skated his free program all the way to the finish.

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(Continued in the physical magazine)

How experiencing the hardships of the disaster changed his feelings about skating

As Hanyu looked back on the World Championships, he repeatedly expressed the same sentiment.

“I was supported by others.” “I received strength from them.” He said these words over and over with deep, heartfelt sincerity.

Hanyu says that something significant has changed within him over the past year.

“The earthquake changed me. Going through that experience changed my heart."

On March 11, Hanyu was training at his home rink in Sendai when the massive tremors struck. Unable to remain standing, he had to crawl his way out of the rink. From that day on, Hanyu and his family were forced to live in an evacuation center for a period of time. He recalls his state of mind that day as follows:

“It was painful, and I was sad. The pain stemmed from my own situation, my family, and our daily life. The sadness was for the town itself. I think that’s the most accurate way to describe it."

The power was out, and the television wasn't working. On the day of the disaster, Hanyu had no way of knowing the full extent of the situation; it wasn't until the following day, when a morning newspaper arrived at the evacuation center, that he learned what had happened.

“When I saw the photos of the tsunami and the disaster-stricken areas, an overwhelming sense of sadness washed over me. I couldn’t think about skating at all, and even if I had, I couldn’t bring myself to talk about it.”

Despite the severe circumstances, he was able to start skating again about ten days later.

“Various coaches reached out to me, saying, ‘The rink over here is available, so you can come and skate.’ Things were far from settled, but once there was some semblance of stability for my family, I headed to a rink in the Yokohama area where a coach who had taught me before was based.”

Resuming skating was something he had been eagerly looking forward to. But when he actually stepped onto the ice, he was overcome by emotions he had never expected.

<Why am I skating? Why am I jumping when everyone is suffering? Why am I doing spins and skating around?>

"I had been so excited to get back on the ice, but once I did, it wasn't fun at all. I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. That period was the most painful time for me."

It was not until early April that his inner conflict began to subside.

He was invited to a charity show in Kobe organized by Daisuke Takahashi, Kenji Miyamoto, and others. It was the first time since the earthquake that he had performed in front of an audience. Hanyu also took part in the encore and gave a speech, and everyone welcomed him warmly.

Having found the strength to look ahead, Hanyu went on to perform in one show after another. Among them was a charity performance at Niida Rink in Hachinohe at the end of July, where people living in evacuation shelters had been invited to attend. It was what happened at the finale.

All the skaters had left the ice, and the show was over. Yet, sensing the audience’s reluctance to leave, Hanyu appeared on the ice alone. Without any prior preparation, he executed a quadruple jump and landed it perfectly. He then gave a wave and headed off toward the backstage area.

“I had really wanted to include a quadruple jump in my program, but I couldn’t fit one in. I felt frustrated that, even though people from the evacuation shelters had gone out of their way to come and watch, I hadn’t been able to give a full performance. A quadruple jump is also the biggest challenge for me personally, so I wanted the people watching to see that if you take on a challenge, you can do it, and to convey that spirit of looking forward.”

Ultimately, he ended up performing in around 60 ice shows.

"Part of the reason was wanting as many people as possible to see my skating, but it was also due to the lack of a proper training environment."

His home rink in Sendai had been damaged and remained unusable until the summer. As a result, he performed in shows and arranged to arrive at the venues early, allowing him to secure some ice time, even if only for a short while, and devote himself to training. The constant travel was not easy, but despite the lack of a proper training environment, he continued preparing for the start of the season.

"For the sake of the disaster-stricken areas"—this was a sentiment Hanyu expressed at every one of his shows. Yet, whenever he was featured in the media, he was almost invariably labeled as someone "affected by the disaster" or "carrying the burden of the disaster-stricken regions." At times, this also cast a shadow over his heart.

“Toward the end of the summer, as the start of the season approached, honestly, I didn’t like it. I wanted to be seen as a skater in my own right, not as a skater representing disaster victims. I had worked so hard as a skater, so there was a period when I felt a little frustrated whenever the word ‘disaster victim’ came up in news reports before competitions.”

He says that, in time, he was able to come to terms with those feelings.

“I suppose it was around the end of the year. These days, I’m actually rather happy to be called a representative of disaster victims. If hearing the name Yuzuru Hanyu brings the earthquake to mind, then the disaster won’t be forgotten. I feel that all the effort I’ve put in to get this far was worthwhile, and that perhaps there is a reason for me to be alive.”

I’m not the one supporting others. I’m the one being supported

At some point, the nuance of Hanyu’s words about the disaster-stricken areas began to change. Instead of saying he was doing things “for the sake of the disaster-stricken areas,” he began to speak of “receiving strength from the disaster-stricken areas.”

“After the All-Japan Championships, I had some time, so I was able to go through the fan letters I had received. As I read them, I realized that there were people supporting me in what I was trying to convey, and that it was thanks to their support that I could convey what I wanted to. I realized that I wasn’t the one supporting others. I was the one being supported.”

After finishing the letters, he wrote a reply to each of the approximately 500 letters, putting those feelings into every response.

"This past year has truly been one in which I’ve reflected on many different things. Up until now, I had been chasing a childhood dream—perhaps 'naively' isn't the right word, but I had been pushing forward with total, single-minded devotion. Now, however, I realize that I am in a position where people are cheering me on and offering their support. I feel a responsibility to embrace that and keep doing my best."

He went on to say that the changes he experienced after the earthquake had also “affected the expressive side” of his skating.

"I experienced hardship, but amidst that, there were also moments of joy and happiness. By experiencing such a wide range of emotions, my capacity for feeling has expanded—or perhaps, deepened. When I skated in front of an audience in Kobe for the first time, the ceiling for how much joy I could feel was higher than ever before. And because I had experienced so many different feelings, I felt that I needed to express more through my skating. I believe that has really come through in my performances."

He experienced the earthquake and, through it all, felt joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness more deeply. This helped Hanyu grow tremendously, both as a person and as a skater. Or rather, it was precisely because he possessed the inherent sensitivity and character to internalize such experiences that he was able to grow.

Following a season in which he gained international recognition and established himself as one of the world’s top skaters, Hanyu described his vision for the kind of skater he aspires to become:

"I want to be a skater who can do everything. When I say that, people often ask what my specific strength is, but I want my strength to be that I am excellent at everything. If I can achieve that, I believe I’ll be a skater who is truly unbeatable. That said, my fundamental skating skills are currently too weak, so that is where I need to focus my efforts first. As for artistic expression, I’ve largely developed my own personal style, but I want to study properly, drawing from disciplines like ballet and dance."

To grow into the skater he aspired to be, Hanyu made a major decision. He decided to part ways with Nanami Abe, the coach who had trained him for many years.

His new coach is Brian Orser, who previously coached Yuna Kim and, in the previous season, had coached Javier Fernández, who made significant strides that year. The decision to choose Orser was prompted by an article in a specialized magazine. It featured the Cricket Club in Toronto, Canada, where Orser served as a head coach. It is a prestigious club with many coaches on staff, each specializing in different aspects of training.

“Until then, I’d never trained while watching so many different skaters, and after learning about the club and its environment, I wanted to try skating in that kind of setting. I was also thinking about the Sochi Olympics two years away. I was sad to leave Coach Nanami, but we talked it over, and she gladly encouraged me to take this step. That makes me feel even more strongly that I have to work hard. I believe that learning what I’m looking for properly and putting it to use in my skating is how I can repay Coach Nanami and her family, as well as the many people who have supported me.”

With this in mind, Yuzuru Hanyu vowed to continue growing as a skater. Looking ahead to the Sochi Olympics, which awaited him in the future, he held onto a big dream.