Hanyu aims to nail quad axel for Olympic gold

TOKYO • Yuzuru Hanyu has less than five weeks of training to become the first man to land the quadruple axel in competition.

However, few will put the feat past the Japanese figure skating star when the Feb 4-20 Beijing Winter Olympics comes along.

The 27-year-old made his first appearance on the ice in eight months after injuring ankle ligaments and he laid down a marker with a commanding win at Japan's national championships on Sunday to book his place at the upcoming Games.

The injury had cast doubt on Hanyu's participation and ruled him out of the entire Grand Prix season, but he has recovered in time to show he remains the one to beat in China.

The defending two-time Olympic singles gold medallist could even have made history at Saitama's Super Arena, having geared up all week to attempt the quad axel, considered the holy grail of men's figure skating.

While he narrowly failed after slightly under-rotating his first crack at the legendary jump, Hanyu vowed to master it as part of his bid for his third successive Olympic title.

He still produced a masterclass for the rest of his routine, earning a free-skate score of 211.05 for a 322.36 score overall.

Pyeongchang Games silver medallist Shoma Uno finished second with an overall score of 295.82, ahead of current world No. 1 Yuma Kagiyama on 292.41.

After being officially named in Japan's Games team alongside Uno and Kagiyama, Hanyu said: "To be honest, this wasn't an Olympics that I had been thinking about.

"But the road I have taken to get here, and my feelings towards the people who have supported me, made me decide to compete."

On the quad axel - he came close to nailing it in practice but under-rotated the jump and landed on both feet in competition - Hanyu claimed it was something he could "accept at the moment".

"I will continue the practice," said the two-time world champion on Sunday.

"I will try my best. I was almost going out of my mind with everything I was doing leading up to this competition.

"I was reminded just how difficult it is to do a quad axel that I haven't mastered yet in a competition."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, XINHUA