Shock in Japan for the unexpected retirement of Yuzuru Hanyu, a sports legend

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu announced his retirement from high performance on Tuesday after a successful career that has made him a legend in the sport. “I have decided not to continue competing”Hanyu said at a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, and after local media announced his retirement.

“I will make an effort so that people continue to be interested in seeing my performances”the double Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion, who will continue to skate in exhibition mode, said in tears.

Hanyu, who confessed to being one “very tense” to “tell his decision in his own words”, he began his appearance by thanking all the participants and all the people who supported him during his career, as well as his coaches.“I always receive many messages of support, even in moments like before today’s press conference”said the 27-year-old athlete.

Asked if he considers his participation in the Olympic Games a highlight of his career, he expressed satisfaction with winning two gold medals but also regretted “not having completed his challenge” in the Olympic event in Beijing last February, the last one in which he participated and in which he finished fourth.

“I’m not going to compete again for what I’ve already achieved, and maybe I’m not looking for that result anymore … This is the process that led me to make this decision,” said the Japanese skater, who explained that he already has raised his retirement after the PyeongChang Games, in South Korea, in 2018. “But the real decision made after Beijing, because I was injured and it hurt so much that it wouldn’t allow me to train. I thought I might not continue like this, because I wanted to feel better skating, “he said.

Hanyu referred to an exhibition he recently attended that made him “want to be there” and show his best skating to people outside of professional competition. “For me, skating is living, it’s something that I carry deep inside,” she said.

The Japanese athlete also confessed that he will “Nerves are lacking before the races”although he added that he will also go to the maximum “to try to give a very high level” in his performance.

The athlete from Sendai, a city in northeastern Japan, four times champion of the Figure Skating Grand Prix, has had to deal with a series of injuries in the last stretch of his career. In March he withdrew from the World Cup, still not having recovered from a sprain he suffered during the Beijing Olympics last February.

He won two consecutive golds at the Sochi (Russia) 2014 and PyeongChang (South Korea) 2018 Winter Games, becoming the first male figure skater to achieve this feat at the Olympic Games in recent years.

In 2018, the skater also received the People’s Honor Award from the government of Japan, the first athlete of this discipline to receive it and the youngest recipient of this award.

Source: EFE