Meet Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan’s figure skating world champion: from winning Olympic golds to endorsing brands Kosé and Citizen, he’s considered a GOAT – but why did his marriage only last three months?
- Double Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu has earned seven world titles and broken records in the men’s short programme, the free skate, and for combined total score
- He announced his retirement from competitive figure skating in 2022 but continues to tour his latest solo show, Re_Pray, across Japan, with his previous one, Gift, now on Disney+
Yuzuru Hanyu is regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters the sport has ever seen. Along with German legend Jan Hoffmann, Hanyu is the most decorated world champion of all time, having earned seven world championship medals over his illustrious, decade-long career.
With two Olympic golds from Sochi (2014) and Pyeongchang (2018) and two world championships, he’s broken records for getting the highest scores ever in the men’s short programme, free skate and total points. His signature triple Axel (and attempts at the quadruple) made him an international name and landed him the sixth spot on the list of most-Googled athletes of the year in 2022.
At 29, he’s one of the most successful athletes ever to come out of Japan, with the government recognising his achievement with a People’s Honour Award in 2019.
So what else do we know about the figure skating legend?
An early start
Hanyu was born in Sendai, Japan, in 1994 and grew up around sports. His father was an adviser to the local school’s baseball club and had hoped to introduce the sport to his son. But Hanyu had other plans – he decided to pursue figure skating instead, after crashing his sister’s lesson at the age of four, per the Science Survey.
The Japanese figure skater eventually moved to Toronto, Canada, in 2013 to train full-time. After nearly a decade of success on the ice, the legend announced his retirement in July 2022, choosing to share his talents with fans at ice shows instead of on the competitive stage.