Photo/Illutration Yuzura Hanyu competes in the men's figure skating short program in the Beijing Olympics on Feb. 8. (Takuya Isayama)

SHENYANG, China--Yuzuru Hanyu may have gotten off on the wrong foot in the men’s figure skating short program on Feb. 8, placing eighth, but his Chinese fans are just happy having him competing in Beijing. 

The two-time Olympic gold medalist boasts a huge following in China where he’s accorded rock star status. 

Posts by his fans erupted under the hashtag “Yuzuru Hanyu is finally here” on the Weibo microblogging site soon after he arrived in Beijing on Feb. 6 for the Winter Games.

He’s seeking a record-tying third consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s figure skating, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in nearly a century. 

“I wish I could turn into a small bug to enter the figure skating venue and watch him perform,” said Shu Xinyu, 28, a medical school student in Beijing, describing how sorry she is not to be able to see Hanyu compete in person.

Spectators were barred from attending the Beijing Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nonetheless, Shu feels she is extremely fortunate to have him in Beijing.

She has been enchanted by Hanyu’s skating since she saw him for the first time at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, where he grabbed his first Olympic gold.

“Each of Hanyu’s body movements was impeccable,” Shu said. “His power of expression and ability to move spectators is just so overwhelming. Everyone would be hooked instantly if they saw his performance.”

Not just a fan, Shu, who is enrolled in a Ph.D., course, takes the ice herself as a member of a figure skating circle. She was introduced to the sport as part of the physical education class she took as a first-year university student.

She fell in love with figure skating as she thought it required both physical prowess and beauty.

When she stayed in Kyoto for a month in the winter of 2016, she visited Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, to see the skating rink where a young Hanyu practiced while he was based in the city.

“I wanted to have a taste of the place where he grew up,” she said of her visit. “It was a sort of pilgrimage to my sacred place.”

Shu is aware that the 27-year-old skater has undergone countless grueling training sessions to attempt a quadruple axel jump that he pledged to land in the Beijing Olympics.

But whether he pulls off the jump, which no figure skater has landed successfully in an official competition to date, does not matter to her, Shu said.

She would be just pleased to know that he is enjoying the Olympics. She would be happier as a fan if Hanyu claims his third gold medal after doing his best.

“Hanyu is a perfect idol,” she said. “He has not only good looks, but also the mental strength to continue working really hard.”

Shu said she cheers on her favorite athletes regardless of their nationality as sports have no borders.

Another fan, Long Jia, a student attending Peking University, said she began rooting for Hanyu after reading a news story four years ago on how strenuously he had trained to excel on the ice. She had never seen figure skating before and knew nothing about the sport.

She immediately searched the internet for videos of his performances. She was mesmerized by his elegant skating in Sochi.

Ever since, Hanyu has inspired her on many occasions, including when she was toiling to be admitted to her university.

“I came to learn about a figure skater named Yuzuru Hanyu,” she wrote in her diary. “He is challenging himself and continuing to work hard. He is still enduring brutal training sessions after feeling pain and suffering setbacks many times. Let’s learn from his fighting spirit.

“Fly Yuzu! Fly myself!”

Long, 22, said one of things she likes about Hanyu is his polite nature. 

“He is my idol and mental pillar,” she said. “Fans never bother with which country a remarkable individual comes from.”

She is under the impression that Hanyu cherishes fans equally regardless of where they are from, making no distinction between his followers in Japan and overseas.

“I want him to do his best,” Long said. “We, his fans, are all rooting for him.”

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