Winter Olympics: Yuzuru Hanyu confirms he is not retiring but ‘I don’t know if these will be my last’ Games
- The 27-year-old outlines ankle injury throughout Beijing, requiring painkillers and injections – ‘If it were a normal competition, I would’ve withdrawn’
- ‘I am an Olympic champion – I have two consecutive gold medals and I will live my life very proud of it,” says Hanyu
Japanese figure skating deity Yuzuru Hanyu quashed any rumours of retirement at a jam-packed press conference on Monday night.
Knowing that there would be several questions marks over his future – such whether he would continue in the sport, if he was injured, and if the fabled quest to land the first-ever in-competition quadruple axel (4A) was done and dusted – Hanyu called a wider press conference to address everything at once.
“I don’t know if these will be my last Olympics,” Hanyu said in Japanese, his simultaneously interpreted responses documented by figure skating journalist Jackie Wong of Rocket Skating.
“I feel the Olympics are so special. I was injured, but I could get back on my feet and take on this challenge. It’s the only stage where a skater can do that.
“I would love to skate against at the Olympics, because performing in such an atmosphere makes me so happy. I’m so lucky that I’m Yuzuru Hanyu.”
The 27-year-old said his skate got caught in the ice during his short programme, while he was also nursing an injury throughout his free skate, before re-injuring it again in training after a 4A attempt.
