By YU IWASA/ Staff Writer
February 11, 2022 at 15:15 JST
Yuzuru Hanyu after completing his free program on Feb. 10 in the Olympics men’s figure skating competition (Taku Hosokawa)
BEIJING--Yuzuru Hanyu made history with his quad axel jump at the Beijing Olympics.
Only, it wasn’t the record that he has long sought and obsessed over.
The International Skating Union acknowledged that Hanyu, 27, was the first skater to attempt a quad axel in an ISU-sanctioned competition.
But Hanyu failed to successfully land the notoriously difficult jump and ended in fourth place in men’s figure skating on Feb. 10, dashing his hopes for a third straight Olympic gold medal.
Hanyu, however, was not hugely disappointed.
“It was clearly a better axel than in my last competition,” Hanyu said after the event. “While I did feel that I was still a little away from success, in my mind I felt that I did the quad axel.”
Hanyu first attempted the quad axel in competition during the Japan Figure Skating Championships in December.
At that time, the attempt was not deemed a quad axel because judges determined Hanyu did not complete the required rotations and also because he landed on both feet.
While judges on Feb. 10 felt he was still less than a half-rotation from completing the jump, Hanyu also muffed the landing, partly due to the speed of his revolutions, and landed on his buttocks.
Hanyu entered the free skate mired in eighth place after a disappointing short program on Feb. 8. He needed a near-perfect skate to keep his medal hopes alive.
But Hanyu felt trying to land the risky quad axel was even more important than winning a third consecutive gold medal, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in nearly a century in men’s figure skating.
His obsession with the jump stems from his mentor, Shoichiro Tsuzuki, who described the axel as “the king of jumps.”
Hanyu said that even though he did not succeed in landing a quad axel he put forth his most complete effort ever and added, “I feel I put all of my pride into this Olympics.”
After the competition, Hanyu was asked if he would continue competing in the hope of eventually landing the quad.
“Please give me a little more time,” he said. “I want to think about that. I feel I deserve that much because I put everything into this competition.”
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