YUZURU HANYU: BIOGRAPHY, AWARDS AND ACCOLADES - BIOGRAPHIES - 2024

Yuzuru Hanyu (December 7, 1994) is a Japanese-born skating champion. He has been recognized for multiple achievements in various championships, among which his Olympic victories stand out. Specifically, he was the winner of two gold medals, one in the 2014 Winter Olympics and the other in 2018.

Hanyu began competing at the national level at the age of ten and has since broken approximately more than fifteen world records throughout her career. For example, he is the only skater to win the Grand Prix final four times in a row.

Yuzuru Hanyu, winner of gold at the 2014 Sochi Grand Prix

David W. Carmichael

Biography

Beginnings and first achievements

Yuzuru Hanyu was born in Sendai, a city located in Japan. She began to venture into the world of skating at the age of four and when she was ten she began to participate in national competitions. Her passion was fueled by some important skating celebrities such as Russian skaters Aleksey Yagudin and Yevgeny Plushchenko.

In 2004 he obtained the first place in the Japan Novice Competition in category B. Later, in 2006 he achieved the bronze medal in category A.

Thanks to this, he was able to participate in the 2006-2007 Japan Youth Competition where he obtained the seventh place. The following year she surpassed herself and obtained the bronze medal. Finally, in 2008 he managed to take first place, becoming the youngest skater to win this competition at only 13 years old.

This earned him qualification for the 2009 World Junior Championships, in which he earned a commendable 11th place in the short program category, as well as 13th place in the freestyle category. That same year she won the gold medal at the Tokyo Youth Grand Prix.

In 2010 he achieved the gold medal at the World Junior Championships, being the youngest person to achieve it. It was also a title that only three Japanese were able to obtain before.

Competitions as an expert

Starting in 2010, he began to compete at the expert level, a stage in which he already began to stand out in various important sporting events. For 2012 she obtained the bronze medal in the World Championship. During the 2012-2013 season she achieved the silver medal at the Grand Prix in Sochi and in the 2013-14 season she obtained the gold medal at the Fukuoka Grand Prix.

In 2014, during the Winter Olympic Games, he obtained the gold medal in the free skating category, this being the first Olympic medal that a Japanese person obtained in men's figure skating.

During that same year he returned to participate in the World Championship, once again reaching gold. This meant that Hanyu achieved the milestone of being the first skater to receive the title of Olympic champion and world champion in the same year since 2002. The previous skater to achieve it was precisely one of Hanyu's references, the Russian skater Yagudin.

In the 2016-2017 season, he again obtained the title of World Champion for the second time, also becoming the first skater in history to land a quadruple loop.

Preparing for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Hanyu suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle, which kept him out of the competition for some time. However, the skater came to the games to repeat the gold medal.

Beyond sport

Among other activities related to her career, Hanyu has been part of advertising campaigns for different brands and organizations. He has also volunteered for relief movements organized during the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

He currently resides in Toronto, Canada. His current coach is renowned Canadian skater Brian Orser, a two-time silver medal winner at the Winter Olympics.

Awards

-Person of Honor Award in Japan. 2018.

-Medal of Honor in Japan. 2014 and 2018.

-Nomination to the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019.

-Award to the newcomer by the Japanese Olympic Committee in 2009.

-Award for special achievement by the Olympic Committee of Japan in 2015.

-Special honor award by the Japan Olympic Committee in 2018.

-Special Olympic award by the Olympic Committee of Japan in the years 2014 and 2018.

-Miyagi Honorary Citizen Award in 2014 and 2018.

- Prize for the most valuable athlete. Japan Olympic Committee Cup. Awarded by the Japan Skating Federation. Years 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Recognitions

-Asahi Sports Award, in 2014. Awarded by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

-Position 33 within the category of the most dominant living athletes, carried out by the American news portal Business Insider.

- Position 70 out of 100 of the most famous athletes in the world by the American channel ESPN in 2018. The following year it rose to position 64.

-Sendai sports award during the years 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

-Tokyo Honor Award in 2018.

Achievements

Yuzuru Hanyu at the 2014 Winter Olympics

David W. Carmichael

Throughout her career, Yuzuru Hanyu has achieved a number of important achievements that have been related to her sports performance.

- He is the first skater to win the title of Olympic champion twice in a row in 66 years.

- He is also the first skater to win four times in a row in the Grand Prix final.

- Has remained ranked first in the world for five consecutive seasons.

- He is the first Asian skater within the individual men's category with multiple World Champion titles

- He is the first man to break the 100-point barrier within the men's short program

- He was also the first to break the 200-point barrier in men's freestyle.

- Became the youngest skater to win an Olympic Champion title since Dick Button in 1948.

- Listed as the first Asian to win an Olympic gold medal in the men's individual skating category.

References

1. Hollar, S. (2019). Hanyu Yuzuru. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com
2. Yuzuru Hanyu. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org
3. (2019) HISTORY-MAKER HANYU'S OWN “MIRACLE ON ICE” IN ACHIEVING PYEONGCHANG GLORY. Olympic Games Recovered from Olympic.org
4. Barron, L (2018). 5 Things to Know About Figure Skating Champion Yuzuru Hanyu. TIME. Recovered from time.com
5. 2018 Winter Olympics. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org