Article about Yuzuru's record - part about his idol - Plushy....
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An out of this world Yuzuru Hanyu broke record after record in Naganoby Florentina Tonehttp://www.insideskating.net/2015/11/30 ... -in-naganoLet me put it this way: is there a record Yuzuru Hanyu can’t break? After this year’s edition of NHK Trophy in Japan, the answer is a definite No. The 20-year-old skater from Sendai (he’ll turn 21 on December 7th, prior to the fifth Grand Prix Final of his career) had already shattered some records during his time on the ice, but never before has the figure skating world experienced something like this: on November 27, Yuzuru Hanyu improved the world record for the short program by nearly 5 points (he held that one too, since the 2014 Olympics in Sochi) and, a day later, he became the first skater ever to break the 200-point barrier in the men’s long program and the 300-point barrier in the total combined score. And what a way to do it – not by a whisker, but in glorious style: Yuzuru Hanyu was awarded 216.07 points for the free and 322.40 in total; the scores to beat, set by Patrick Chan in 2013, were 196.75 points and 295.27 respectively.
In doing so, during the two days of competition in Nagano, Yuzuru landed five quadruple jumps, two of them in combination, received only positive GOEs for all the elements he performed and was awarded the perfect 10 for no less than 16 times, for Performance, Interpretation, Choreography. The Japanese’s feat was inspirational, to say the least – and not only to figure skatings fans from all around the world, but to his fellow skaters too. „I want to be Yuzuru when I grow up. Amazing!”, wrote Canadian ice dancer Madeline Edwards on twitter. „Watching Yuzuru skate is the new highlight of my skating life!”, noted pairs World champion Eric Radford, while former competitive skater Douglas Razanno from the USA „winked” at his followers on twitter: „Omg!!! Yuzu 322.40! Omg! Thank God I retired when I did”. But to Yuzuru Hanyu, the most precious compliment might have been the one coming from his childhood idol, Russia’s
Evgeni Plushenko: “Congratulations to my friend Yuzu!!! I am so proud of you”.
There must be something in the air of the Big Hat arena in Nagano, the rink that hosted the ice-hockey competition at 1998 Winter Olympics. Something driving and uplifting, favourable to great performances – two imaginary wings that kept Japan’s champion more in the air than on the ice at this year’s edition of NHK Trophy, just like in that fan poster hanging in CCIB arena in Barcelona, last year, at the Grand Prix Final.
But the truth is Yuzuru Hanyu doesn’t remember the 1998 Olympics: „It was before I started skating so I don’t remember much”, he stated during a press conference in Nagano. He remembers instead the Olympics in Salt Lake City, four years later, and the amazing, daring, thrilling competition in the men’s event, between 21-year-old Alexei Yagudin and 19-year-old Evgeni Plushenko. It was Yagudin who won the gold on American soil, but it was Plushenko who stirred the imagination of a 7-year-old in the Japanese city of Sendai. From that moment on, Plushenko was an inspiration to Yuzuru Hanyu – he even styled his hair in a mushroom cut, as his idol.
This particular story – the visible and invisible ties between Russia’s champion and the young Japanese aspiring to follow into his footsteps – was recounted with details and emotion by the Japanese newspaper „Sports Nippon”, who ran an affectionate article on February 18, 2014, a couple of days after Yuzury Hanyu had met Plushenko on the competitive ice in Sochi, during the team event. As quoted by „Sports Nippon”, Yuzuru confessed: „I looked up to Plushenko in every way in those days. In many ways I still do now. [...] I’m so glad I got to skate against him in the team event. It was like a dream come true. I can’t thank him enough for all the inspirational performances he’s shown us in his career”.
13 years after Salt Lake City, Yuzuru Hanyu himself became a legend and entered history through his performances – and you have this feeling the admiration is now mutual. Quoted by sports.ru, Evgeni Plushenko praised the Japanese after he’d scored 106.33 points, the highest of all times, for his short program at NHK Trophy: „I think his skating was perfect, as if it were one breath! There was this huge energy, and everything was of great value: great spins, excellent flow, great expression. This was his best skate ever”. A day later, with Yuzuru Hanyu breaking two more world records, the Russian was once again impressed, congratulating him, and also the silver medalist, China’s Boyang Jin; the message was posted on Plushenko’s official Instagram account: „Congratulations to my my friend Yuzu!!! I am so proud of you. Boyang Jin, great job, this is what figure skating [is] about!”
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