Yuzuru Hanyu channels Robbie Williams as Japan skating star makes rocking return to competition
- The two-time Olympic champion sports a gold-studded black outfit as he performs to ‘Let Me Entertain You’ at the Japan national championships
- The 26-year-old has been out of action since February because of the coronavirus crisis and leads the field after the short programme
Japan’s two-time Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu made a stylish return to competition on Friday after skipping the Grand Prix season over fears of coronavirus infection.
Resplendent in a gold-studded black outfit, Hanyu unveiled a new short programme routine set to Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams at the Japanese national championships in Nagano, and claimed the lead with a score of 103.53.
The 26-year-old star had been out of action since February after deciding his asthma made competing in this season’s Grand Prix series too risky during the pandemic, but he picked up where he left off with a confident performance.
“First of all, it was important just to get back to competition,” said Hanyu, who admitted to feeling “conflicted” about competing this week as infections surge around Japan.
“I had been able to do some really good practice, and although my performance wasn’t worth the score I got, I managed to land all my jumps. Now I want to execute my programme tomorrow.”
Hanyu leads 17-year-old Yuma Kagiyama, who won the NHK Trophy last month in his senior Grand Prix debut, and Pyeongchang Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno, who is attempting to win his fifth straight national title.
