Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu has broken world records twelve times in the last ten years. He has won four Grand Prix Finals, one Junior Grand Prix Final, one World Junior Championship, two World Championship silver medals, three Four Continents silver medals, two World Championship silver medals, and one World Championship bronze medal while competing in the men’s singles division. Since Dick Button 1948, who won the Olympic title at the age of 19, was the youngest male skater to do so in 2014 at the age of 19. In the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, he matched Button’s record of back-to-back victories. He currently holds the highest short program record, free skating, overall combined score, and greatest victory margin with 37.48 points. In addition, he is the first male skater to surpass the milestones of 100 issues in the men’s short program, 200 points in the men’s free skate, and 300 points in the combined total score.
Early Childhood & Life
On December 7, 1994, Yuzuru Hanyu was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. After finishing his routines, he frequently stops to collect his breath because he has asthma.
Saya, his older sister, encouraged him to start skating when he was only four years old. Takeshi Honda and Shizuka Arakawa, two well-known Japanese figure skaters, are among the former students of Tohoku High School, where he once attended.
Career of Yuzuru Hanyu
At the “2004 Japan Novice Championships,” Yuzuru Hanyu had his maiden national appearance as a novice skater in the Novice B division, where he won the gold medal. He started studying under Nanami Abe at this time but owing to financial difficulties, his home rink in Sendai had to close, preventing him from getting adequate practice.
He qualified to compete in the “2006-07 Japan Junior Championships” by taking home the bronze medal in the Novice A division at the “2006 Japan Novice Championships,” where he placed seventh. He earned the Novice A category gold medal at the “2007 Japan Novice Championships” after his home rink reopened in 2007, and then the “2007-08 Japan Junior Championships” bronze medal.
He competed in his first international competition at the junior level at the “2008-09 ISU Junior Grand Prix,” where he placed sixth overall and fourth in the short program and free skating, respectively. At age 13, he won the Japan Junior Championship later in the same season, qualifying for the senior level at the 2008-09 Japan Championships, where he placed eighth.
He won both competitions, and in the 2009–10 season, he finished first in the “Junior Grand Prix Final” and took first place in the “Japan Junior Championships.” At the “Japan Championships,” where he received a second invitation to compete at the senior level, he won the “Junior Grand Prix Final” with a new personal best score before taking first place at the “2010 World Junior Championships.”
During the 2010–11 season, he advanced to the senior level and competed in the 2010 NHK Trophy, where he placed fourth overall, and the 2010 Cup of Russia, where he placed seventh. He was chosen to compete at the “2011 Four Continents Championships” after placing fourth at the “2010-11 Japan Championships,” where he set a new personal best score and won a silver medal.
Yuzuru Hanyu won the “Nebelhorn Trophy” to kick off the 2011–12 season, and he was then given the “2011 Cup of China” and the “2011 Rostelecom Cup” for the “2011–12 Grand Prix” series. He qualified for his first senior “Grand Prix Final” by placing fourth and first in the two competitions, respectively. He then won a bronze medal in his senior “World Championship” debut.
In April 2012, he started working with Canadian instructor Brian Orser. He later won gold at the 2012 NHK Trophy, silver at the 2012 Skate America, and gold at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy. In the following events, he came in second at the “Grand Prix Final,” won his maiden national championship at the “Japan Championships,” won silver at the “2013 Four Continents Championships,” and placed fourth at the “2013 World Championships.”
After winning gold at the 2013 Finlandia Trophy and two silvers at the 2013 Skate Canada International and 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, he qualified for the 2014 Grand Prix Final and won it.
He earned the first Olympic gold medal for Japan in the men’s figure skating competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He won the 2014 World Figure Skating Championship in Saitama, Japan, to round off the year.
He successfully defended his Grand Prix Final title and won a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships despite being injured and unwell for much of the 2014–15 season. He won the Japan National Championships for the third time in a row during that campaign, and by competing in the 2015 World Team Trophy for the first time, he helped Team Japan capture the bronze medal.
He broke both world records in the 2015 NHK Trophy by scoring 106.33 in the short program and 216.07 in the free skate for a combined total of 322.40 points. By shattering both the short program and free skating records with 110.95 and 219.48 points, respectively, and setting a new world record of 330.43 for the combined total, he won his third straight Grand Prix Final.
During the 2015–16 campaign, he won the Japan Championships four times in a row. Despite suffering an injury that sidelined him for two months, he placed second at the 2016 World Championships.
He successfully defended both his Grand Prix Final and World Championship titles in the 2016–17 season, becoming the first skater to ever land a quadruple loop in the process.
In 2017–18, he struggled with injuries that forced him off the ice for two months and limited his participation to three games. He did, however, successfully defend his Olympic championship at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, which had not been done since Dick Button won back-to-back gold medals in 1948 and 1952.
Recognition & Achievements
Yuzuru Hanyu is the first Asian figure skater to win the men’s singles gold medal at the Olympics and the first to win two straight competitions. The championship hasn’t been won by a man skater this young in 66 years.
Yuzuru Hanyu is the first Asian figure skater to win the men’s singles gold medal at the Olympics and the first to win two straight competitions. The championship hasn’t been won by a man skater this young in 66 years.
Personal Legacy & Life
Yuzuru Hanyu, a survivor of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, is a proponent of numerous initiatives to aid earthquake victims. To rebuild the Sendai ice rink, he contributed the proceeds from his two-part autobiography, “Blue Flames” and “Blue Flames II.”
He served as the spokesperson for the “2014 Sochi Winter Olympics” campaign alongside fellow Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi.
He made his on-screen debut in the 2016 film “The Magnificent Nine” as the samurai lord Date Shigemura.
Yuzuru Hanyu Net Worth
One of the wealthiest and most well-known figure skaters is Yuzuru Hanyu. Yuzuru Hanyu has a net worth of $5 million based on our analysis of data from sources including Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Fact
Yuzuru Hanyu is Japanese for “tightened bowstring.” His father gave him this name because he wanted him to be an industrious man who lived a straightforward but honorable life.
Because he loves Winnie the Pooh so much, he frequently receives gifts of plush Pooh bears from the audience.