WHAT’S NEXT FOR YUZURU HANYU?
The fairy tale that has been the Yuzuru Hanyu story the past eight years did not end quite the way he had hoped at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
The 27-year-old headed into the competition looking to make history by winning a third consecutive Olympic title. But that was not to be in Beijing.
Hanyu finished a distant eighth in the men’s short program after popping his opening quad Salchow. He later stated his blade caught a rut, which prevented a take-off of the jump.
Backstage, obviously upset, Hanyu was struggling with what had just transpired. “My rhythm felt right, and you saw that in my other jumps. It’s mind-boggling because the preparation to get here … Everything had gone right until now. I felt razor sharp during the six-minute warm-up,” he reflected.
However, it did not take long for Hanyu’s competitive nature to kick into gear. As he looked ahead to the free skate, he said he planned to “give it everything I’ve got and try to claw back into the competition. Pressure gives me more energy for skating.”
But when he opened his long program with a fall on an under-rotated quad Axel attempt, and then fell on his second
