Yuzuru Hanyu

Yuzuru Hanyu (羽生 結弦, Ha'nyū Yuzuru; Hiragana: はにゅう ゆづる; born December 7, 1994) is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skating at four years old and competed in the men's singles discipline from 2004 to 2022. Hanyu is the first men's single skater in 66 years since Dick Button to win back-to-back Olympic titles (2014, 2018), and the first Asian Olympic champion in that discipline. He is a two-time World champion (2014, 2017), six-time Japanese national champion (2012–2015, 2020–2021), and the first singles skater to win four consecutive Grand Prix Finals (2013–2016). With his win at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, he became the first skater in men's singles to complete the Super Slam, having won all major international junior and senior titles in the course of his career. He is also the only single skater to be ranked first in the ISU World Standings for five consecutive seasons (2014–2018). Hanyu broke world records 19 times, the most in singles since the introduction of the ISU Judging System in 2003, and was the first skater to land a quadruple loop jump in international competition among other achievements.

According to Nikkei Asia, Hanyu's move to professional level in 2022 marked the "end of an era" in competitive figure skating. His first major work as a professional is the ongoing Yuzuru Hanyu Ice Story series, with its prelude event Prologue (2022) being the first solo ice show and the Repray Tour (2023–24) the first solo tour production in figure skating. His second solo show Gift (2023) was the first ice skating event to be held at Tokyo Dome, breaking the record for the largest ice show audience with 35,000 people. Hanyu's Ice Story series, which has attracted more than 100,000 spectators in total by February 2024, opened a new genre of performing art and entertainment, weaving live skating performances into comprehensive, philosophical stories with elaborate on-screen narration.

At 16 years old, Hanyu experienced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in his hometown of Sendai, which fundamentally shaped his life and career, having participated in different charity events and dedicated various performances to the victims of the disaster. He is also the chairperson of Nippon TV's annual 3.11 commemoration ice show Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata, inaugurated in 2023. Since the earthquake, Hanyu has donated a cumulative total of more than $3 million USD for reconstruction, disaster prevention, and other humanitarian efforts. The donations include the full prize money of his Olympic wins and all royalties from his best-selling autobiography series Blue Flames I–IV.

In recognition of his achievements, Hanyu became the youngest recipient of the People's Honor Award (2018), bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan, received Japan's Medal of Honor with purple ribbon twice (2014, 2018) and was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize (2022). He is the first figure skater to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award (2019) and was named the Most Valuable Skater at the inaugural ISU Skating Awards (2020). He was also featured in prestigious lists, such as Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia (2018), ESPN's top 25 of greatest Olympians of the 21st century (#10), and the International Sports Press Association's list of most impactful male athletes of the last 100 years (#6) (both 2024). In 2022, he was ranked sixth in the list of most-searched athletes on Google Search worldwide.

Early life

Yuzuru Hanyu was born on December 7, 1994, in Izumi ward, Sendai, Japan, as the second child to father Hidetoshi Hanyu, a junior high school teacher, and mother Yumi Hanyu, a former clerk at a department store. Hanyu's given name 結弦 (Yuzuru; lit. 'tie the bowstring') comes from the idea of "living a dignified life like a strongly-tied string of a bow”, thus symbolizing confidence, strength, and straightness. Hanyu's father was an advisor to the baseball school club and recommended the sport to his son, but Hanyu eventually decided to pursue a career in figure skating. His mother used to make the costumes in his early career, including the free skate costume for the 2010–11 season, which was designed by American figure skater Johnny Weir. In 2012, she moved with Hanyu to Toronto, Canada, and accompanied him during training, while his father and older sister, Saya, stayed in Japan.

At the age of two, Hanyu was diagnosed with asthma, a condition that gradually improved with time yet negatively affected his stamina, especially during his junior career. He began skating at the age of four at Ice Rink Sendai (formerly Konami Sports Club) in Izumi, after coach Mami Yamada had suggested he try the sport instead of being a nuisance during his sister's training. Yamada noted Hanyu's impatience when he first got onto the ice, but also praised him for his sincerity. Coaching him until the end of his second grade in elementary school, Yamada had to move to another prefecture and asked Shōichirō Tsuzuki, former coach of Japan's first World medalist, Minoru Sano, to train Hanyu and "not put his talent to waste". Hanyu described Tsuzuki's practice sessions as particularly strict and exhausting, tempting him to skip lessons at times, but he appreciated Tsuzuki's approach to build a solid foundation of skills and focus on basic training, noting: "He placed so much emphasis on skating and the Axel jump. Perhaps that made me confident to this day that the Axel is my forte."

Competitive skating career

Novice and junior career (2004–2010)

Hanyu competed for the first time in the 2004–05 season, winning gold at the Japan Championships in the Novice B category, the lower of the two novice level categories. His home rink then closed due to financial issues, forcing him to switch to the Katsuyama Skating Club in Aoba ward, Sendai. The same year, Shōichirō Tsuzuki moved to Yokohama, and Nanami Abe became Hanyu's main coach and choreographer, guiding him until 2012. On weekends, Hanyu travelled three hours from Sendai to Yokohama for additional lessons at Tsuzuki's new skating club. In summer 2006, at 11 years old, Hanyu's confidence showed up when initiating a spin battle against that year's Olympic silver medalist, Stéphane Lambiel, who was known for his world-class spins. Hanyu suffered a disarming defeat, which he remembered as an important career lesson: "After competing against him, I decided to improve my spins as well. You will definitely improve, learning from [the best]." In the 2006–07 season, Hanyu won the bronze medal at the Japan Championships in the Novice A category, which earned him an invitation to the Japan Junior Championships, where he placed seventh. His home rink in Izumi ward eventually reopened in 2007 after being closed for two years. The next season, he placed first at the Japan Championships in the Novice A category and won the bronze medal at the Japan Junior Championships.

In 2008–09, Hanyu moved up to junior level and made his international debut in the ISU Junior Grand Prix at the Merano Cup in Italy, where he placed fifth. The same season, he won gold at the Japan Junior Championships, becoming the youngest male skater with 13 years to win the event. This result earned him an invitation to the Japan Senior Championships for the first time, where he placed eighth. His national junior title also qualified him for the 2009 World Junior Championships in February, where he finished 12th with an ISU personal best score of 161.77 points in the combined total. In that season, Hanyu had included the triple Axel, a jump with three and a half revolutions, in his programs for the first time, though receiving negative grades of execution (GOE) for all three attempts. The following 2009–10 season marked the beginning of an 11-year-long quest for the first Super Slam in the men's singles discipline, with wins at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final and World Junior Championships. Hanyu placed first at both of his Grand Prix assignments, in Poland and Croatia, and entered the Final as the top qualifier, which he won with a new personal best score of 206.77 points. At Junior Nationals, he successfully defended his title from the previous season, qualifying him for the Senior Nationals, where he finished sixth. Based on his results, Hanyu was selected to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships, winning gold after placing third in the short program and first in the free skate with a new personal best score of 216.10 points. Hanyu became the fourth and youngest Japanese man to win the junior world title. In that season, he had significantly improved the quality of the triple Axel, his most difficult technical element at that time, having landed nine jumps with positive GOE in ten attempts.