Yuzuru Hanyu

"super heroes that can fly"

"Alors, nous sommes très fiers sur France Télévision cet après-midi de vous proposer ce chef d’œuvre absolu. Ce programme est à enregistrer dans toutes les écoles de patinage."

"That is everything you could ever want in a short program. The complete package. He balances the artistic score and the technical score like no one I have ever seen. The best ever. He has the jumps, he has those quads, he has the performance ability. It was perfection."

"The mindset to overcome this injury, to deal with all of that pressure is what makes him a true champion."

"他让我想起一句话。命运对勇士低语: '你无法抵御风暴。' 勇士低声回应: '我就是风暴。'"

"With one delayed single Axel, one triple Axel, Yuzuru Hanyu, double gold medalist, just gave a masterclass of what figure skating actually is."

"He's a two-time Olympic gold medalist, he's won the World Championships [...] He has everything. And what's all the more amazing that despite that he still [came] back and demonstrated improvement, not just sustaining his excellence but improving his excellence."

"I've heard that his programmes this year are hommages or testaments to some of his favourite skaters. [...] And that's interesting, because that makes you believe that – perhaps – he's a little reserved in his own estimations of himself [...] Perhaps he's not quite aware that he's everybody else's inspiration, he's everybody else's motivation to improve."

"Watch how he plays with the music. He is a master."

"There is no one like him. No one like Yuzuru Hanyu. [...] The rockstar does it again. And whatever it cost, the GOAT – the GOAT – delivers."

"This is not a world championship, this is not the Olympics, but I've never seen anything like this. [...] The maestro, the master, Yuzuru Hanyu, has won in Canada."

"He's his own mystical creature, that's for sure. [...] He also has this unmatched confidence that I think is very rare but also very prevalent in all the greats in the sport. Like that he knows he's the best and he wants everyone to know he's the best and he lives up to it."

"With Yuzu, we are everything, we are friends, we are team mates, at some point we have to be rivals. It’s like having a wife, your wife is your friend, your wife is everything, but it depends on the time. When we are on the ice, we are competing against each other but when the competition is done, we are friends again and we work together again."

"Yuzuru is a mystery and he will always be a mystery, because he likes it like that."

"I've done so many competitions and I've been in so many different atmospheres that at some point you kinda know what you have to do. [When] you skate in a competition in Japan after Yuzuru Hanyu, that teaches you a lot."

"Could he win without the big, giant tricks? Yes. But that’s not him. He’s willing to take the risk. He’s visualizing a greater win than last time. It wasn’t that magical moment you usually see at the Olympics."

"Never underestimate Mr Hanyu. That's for sure."

"He instantly at that time connected with a higher purpose of what he does. Yes, it's a sport. Yes, it's about winning. But for him it became about how he affected people emotionally, his ability to lift people, his ability to take people out of their troubles for a moment, and move to another place and find inspiration."

"He’s everything. He’s the skater, he’s the jumper, but quintessentially, he’s the performer. He seems to have the superpower to take all the pressure, all the expectations and all the lights and all the cameras, and somehow he’s able to use it as a competitor."

"I think he’s beautiful; he moves like a dream."

"He’s got this aura, this special presence that only he has. He’s so fierce on the ice, but in the kiss and cry he’s got his Pooh. That gap is what makes him attractive."

"I certainly have seen my fair share of great skaters over the course of my life and Hanyu ranks right up at the top with the best of them. [...] There is a contrasting sweetness and innocence backstage in conversation to the "killer" who comes out to skate. I have often said, you can see it in Hanyu's eyes when he takes his opening position."

"He’s the most complete athlete in figure skating, probably ever."

"For me he's number one. He's a great skater from a different planet. [...] When he skates, he has charisma. I like his jumps, I like his choreography, I like his spins. We have other skaters, they're good jumpers for example. But their choreography is not quite good, not enough to take the audience."

"You're the most complete figure skater of all time. Technical ability, artistry, but above all - above all - the ability to perform when it counts the most."

"He unzips his jacket to reveal his costume... it's like he redefines the sport of figure skating."

"It reminds me of when Michael Jackson was in his heyday, or meeting the Pope. People see Hanyu for the first time and they become hysterical or they’re moved to tears. It’s like their lives are complete. It’s crazy."

"[He] looks like he wakes up from bed and goes and jumps."

"Imagine being so good at something that people make it rain Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals on you."

"Obsessed with #yuzuruhanyu the best figure skater ever because he is as great an artist as athlete. The Baryshnikov of the Ice."

"seriously - just watched his exhibition skate - EXHIBITION! - and it was chilling. his relationship to the ice, to the music... it's simply inspirational."

"羽生結弦殿。あなたは厳しい修練と、人一倍の努力の積み重ねにより、オリンピック冬季競技大会個人種目における日本人初の連覇、フィギュアスケート男子シングル競技においても世界で66年振りとなる連覇を達成されました。この世界の歴史に残る快挙を、東日本大震災による被災、大会直前の大きな怪我という大変な困難を乗り越えて達成されたことは多くの国民に深い感動と勇気、社会に明るい夢と希望を与え、そして震災復興への力強いメッセージとなりました。"

"実現するために苦労がたくさん必要だなって思えるようなものでした。"

"難易度と芸術 のバランスというのは本当はないんじゃないかな、芸術は絶対的な技術力に基づいたものである、と僕は思っています。"

"たとえばバレエとかミュージカルとかもそうですけれども、芸術というのは、明らかに正しい技術、徹底された基礎によって裏付けされた表現力、芸術であって、それが足りないと芸術にはならないと僕は思っています。"

"特に自分からコメントを常に発信したいなとは思ってないし、何よりも、自分がたくさんの方々に愛してもらってるのはすごく分かってるので…うん…あのー、何だろう？ 特別自分から何かをしなくてもいいかなという風に思っています。"

"I will never forget your performance. Thank you for allowing me to come to Toronto. I’ll respect you forever. Ganbatte, Javi, vamos!"

"I managed to win twice, but the Olympics are something special. The Olympic Games are what every athlete and figure skater wants to win. Winning them makes you a true champion."

"I'd like to overcome more barriers. I'd like to be in the position where, no matter what happens - even if they skate their free skate clean - if I skate clean, I will win."

"I want to be stronger. Maybe I need to become a Yuzuru Hanyu who is more Yuzuru Hanyu."

"Sometimes I can't explain or speak with words. It really feels a little frustrating. But in skating I can use all languages, for all the people. I can do a part of the performance for every country, every people."

"なんかこのプログラムは自分のプログラムで、もうこれで滑るのは本当に数え切れないぐらい滑ることになっているけれど、自分ではワインとか、チーズみたいなもので、今までこんなフィギュアスケートの形ってなかったかもしれないけれど、滑れば滑るほど、時間をかければかけるほど熟成されて、いろんな深みが出るプログラム。"

"そこに音楽があるから、フィギュアスケートっていう表現だったり、芸術だったり、技術っていうものがそこに生まれてくるのであって、音楽とフィギュアスケートっていうのがほぼイコールだと僕は思ってます。で、僕にとっては… なんて言うか、生きがいです。フィギュアスケートをやる理由です。"

"Costumes are important tools for me to express the story in my program. I also think that costumes are one of the things that serve to highlight the uniqueness of Yuzuru Hanyu, the skater. [...] People who see it, will feel that it has to be Yuzuru, it has to be this program and costume."

"It would be terrible, if no one expected anything from me. [...] Of course, I can't always deliver one hundred percent, but what I always try to do is: respond to their expectation at one hundred twenty percent level. That's why – when I fail to do so – the disappointment is huge, and when I [succeed], it's an amazing sense of achievement that no words can describe."

"It's not only me, who is serving this sport. Figure skating is a sport. Yes, there are shows, but we're athletes and competitors. You can't compete with only one skater. There are so many amateur skaters, who gather to compete. This is how figure skating as a sport is made."

"僕が見せたいスケートとか、僕が表現したいものとか、そういうものってやっぱり身体がないと何もできないので、まずは身体を大切に、そしてまわりも人も大切に、大事なものを僕は、スケートという大事なものを守れるように、しっかり胸を張って行動できることをやっていきたいと思います。"

"振り付け1つ1つに、今回はお客さんがいないのでなかなかコネクトすることは難しいですけれども、1つ1つにお客さんとつながるような振りが多くあるので、それもまたこのプログラムの魅力かなと思います。"

"女子と男子のスケートの違いについては、もちろん、その繊細さだったり、パワフルさだったり、いろんなものが違うとは思います。ただ、そのそれぞれのスケーターが素晴らしい個性を持っていて、その個性を出すことがフィギュアスケートのすごく魅力的なところだと思うので、全スケーターがみんな違うと僕は思っています。"

"なんか限界だなって感じはないです。ただ、この限界だなって思うかもしれない時期をどうやって乗り越えていくか。"