[Beijing 2022] The Encounter with Yuzuru Hanyu
Editor's note: The translators WU Lirong and ZHU Huanhuan are students of School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Beijing Normal University.
By Zhang Su, CNS, Feb 7, 2022
When it comes to Waiting for Spring, an original song by a Japanese musician, many fans of skating firstly think about Yuzuru Hanyu, a Japanese figure skating player.
Yuzuru Hanyu is in training
One reason is that Yuzuru Hanyu once combined his gorgeous performance with this song, and another is that in fans’ eyes, Hanyu himself is the blossoming sakura in Spring.
The Spring comes, and the figure skating of Beijing Winter Olympic Games also encounters with Yuzuru Hanyu.
At 2:00 p.m. on February 7, Hanyu has trained for half an hour to time his skating performance to the rhythm of music in CIS (Capital Indoor Stadium) Figure Skating Training Hall. It was less than 24 hours before his debut in Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Skating around the training field to warm up and to identify the route and time carefully, he took off white coat and started to practice jumps. After continual successful jumps, he inclined his head lightly.
Hanyu then attempted the quadruple Axel jump. However, he was unable to land a quadruple loop cleanly. Instead of being upset, he managed to finish other five kinds of quadruple jumps (the other five are quadruple Toeloop jump, quadruple Salchow jump, quadruple Loop jump, quadruple Flip jump and quadruple Lutz jump).
Yuzuru Hanyu in training
In the past few days, rhythm of the song Requiem of Heaven and Earth has rung through training hall in Hanyu’s training time. This soundtrack finally waited for the person who can dance in response. Accompanied by this melodious requiem, Hanyu had reservations and was making self-adjustments in relaxation.
After the training, Yuzuru Hanyu bowed to the audience and walked to the Mixed Zone. This is his first public voice since his arrival in Beijing. Under the requirements of epidemic prevention, the CIS has been crowded with media reporters with their numerous cameras to the maximum extent.
Facing these interviews, Hanyu answered in calm. He said: “I feel good for I have finished the training as expected in this perfect hall. Joining the Olympics makes me nervous but it’s certainly a total nice experience.”
Yuzuru Hanyu in training
But in the next breath, Hanyu said such a feeling only represented today’s training. He has finished today’s training, and he will concentrate on the preparation for men’s single skating short program.
Yuzuru Hanyu expressed that he will do his best both in the men’s single skating short program on the 8th and the men’s single free skating match on the 10th. “I will do my utmost,” he said to the audience through the camera lens, “ I won’t say ‘please cheer me on,’ but I would be very happy if people come to see my performance.”
Hanyu still keeps the expectations towards 4A.“Quadruple Axel is really difficult, but this move is what I want to finish in Beijing 2022,” he said, “that’s necessary to scale new heights on the Olympics Games.”
It has been calculated that when making 4A jumps, the skater’s body will spin at six and a half cycles per second in the air, equivalent to the wheel speed of a car driving at 50 kilometers per hour. Given the current physical development of human, some famous skating coaches even asserted that no one can achieve 4A in their lifetime.
Japan’s skater Yuzuru Hanyu appeared on the training field during the training for the men's single skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium Figure Skating Training Hall on Feb,7.
Some people cannot understand why Yuzuru Hanyu is so obsessed in completing quadruple Axel jump in Olympics. Axel jump is the only one that has not been conquered among six quadruple jumps. Surely, one can make history if succeeds in challenging 4A. But is it worth it?
According to the scoring rules set by the International Skating Union (ISU), the basic score of 4A is only 1 point higher than that of the quadruple Lutz jump, while the difficulty of the two moves are not comparable. In contrast, 4A will cause great damage to skaters, and Hanyu himself said that each time he practiced, he thought whether he would hit his head and then “fall down because of concussion”.
However, for Yuzuru Hanyu, the pursuit of 4A and triple crown of men's single figure skating in the Winter Olympics are integrated. Today, Hanyu also expressed that 4A would be presented in a “different” way in Beijing, like “reconfirming the spinning ways”. Following the statement, an article about Hanyu recommended by the International Olympic Committee was also titled “Can He Achieve 4A in Beijing”.
In fact, from fledgling in Sochi to becoming a champion in Pyeongchang, Yuzuru Hanyu has never stopped his pace for self-breakthrough in Winter Olympics, where “transcendence” can be best interpreted, and in the skating arena, where “power and beauty” can be best demonstrated.
With more players coming to challenge the limits, this Spring is becoming more and more desirable.
