[2025.05.22] Sports Graphic Number June 2025 issue - Speaking About the Moments I Hit Rock Bottom
Yuzuru Hanyu: "Speaking About the Moments I Hit Rock Bottom"
"Even When Faced With Fear and Despair"
As a young boy, he lost access to a training environment. As an athlete, he faced relentless battles with injury. No matter the trials he encountered, Yuzuru Hanyu continued to break through walls. This special feature presents an excerpt from a documentary program produced by our magazine.
With back-to-back Olympic gold medals and a shining competitive career behind him, Yuzuru Hanyu now shines even more brightly as a professional figure skater. While his skating career may appear dazzling on the surface, he himself says, "I've seen rock bottom over and over again."
"There were many times when I faced situations where I didn’t know if I’d be able to continue skating."
Among those, he says the hardest time was "when I was in elementary school."
"To begin with, I wasn’t someone who won from the start. From what I remember, I couldn't win for quite a while after I started skating. But when I was nine, in fourth grade, I entered my first national-level competition and won."
That was at the All-Japan Novice Championship in October 2004. After delivering a flawless performance and claiming the title, he went on to win his first international competition in Finland two months later. Reflecting on that time, he says, "I was filled with confidence."
It was a season where he believed 100% in the future ahead of him. But unexpectedly, that path took a dark turn. Shortly after the Finland competition, the local rink in his hometown of Sendai, his main training base, was closed due to financial difficulties. Searching for a place where he could continue skating, he joined another club. But with a new coach and a much longer commute, both the quantity and quality of his practice time dropped drastically.
"I was barely able to land a double axel or a triple jump, while the other kids around me were nailing triple jumps with ease. I felt like I was being left behind. No matter how hard I worked in those limited conditions, I kept slipping further behind. It was frustrating, and I was scared. I felt a kind of despair, like I had no potential left to grow."
This hopeless period lasted until October of his sixth-grade year. What helped him recover was, again, a change in environment. The rink reopened, and he was able to focus more on training. Around the same time, he started working with a coach who had studied under the very teacher who had taught him the basics of skating. From that point, he quickly gained consistency in his triple jumps.
"I realized how important it is to take that extra step instead of settling for the current situation. I also felt that the foundational skills I had worked on as a child were finally connecting with who I was then. It’s not just about working hard, it’s about finding the method that suits you."
Another major low point he talks about is his battle with injury.
"When I got injured and couldn’t train, I lost muscle strength, and the injured area would hurt even more… It wasn’t just starting from zero, it felt like going into the negatives. That’s something I’ve experienced."
One example was his injury during official practice at the 2017 NHK Trophy. It was later diagnosed as a lateral ligament injury in his right ankle. It was serious.
"I don’t know how to explain it… It was like all the work I’d done just crumbled away in an instant."
And no wonder, he was just three months away from the PyeongChang Olympics.
"After that, the only thing I could do was keep doing what I could each day. I couldn’t skate for such a long time. So I focused entirely on things like physical therapy, treatment, and rehab. I kept experimenting and finding ways to stay engaged. But losing the feel for the ice and watching my strength fade was hard. Seeing other skaters land jumps and post scores while I was out was nothing but terrifying."
“The Word ‘Setback’—A Term He Had Never Used”
He only returned to the ice after the new year. The gap in training was long, and he had no opportunity to compete before the Olympics. Still, he didn’t lose hope. He didn’t give up.
"Even when I wasn’t sure if I’d be selected for the Olympic team, the idea of not doing what I could wasn’t even on the table. Maybe it was the experience of living through the Great East Japan Earthquake that gave me a higher threshold for pain and sadness. Or maybe the tough experiences I had in elementary school had already trained me mentally. I don’t know, but that’s possible."
That resolve led to his second straight Olympic gold. But the story also highlights something striking: as far as can be recalled from his interviews, press conferences, and post-competition comments, Hanyu had never used the word “setback.”
"That’s right," he nodded without hesitation, and continued:
"In my mind, a setback is when you stop and give up. But in my case, when I hit a wall, I have to get through it. It’s just who I am. Instead of saying I’ve hit a setback, I immediately start thinking about how to overcome it. That’s my approach."
He’s seen rock bottom many times. Each time, he’s felt the terror and despair of being crushed. But he’s never stopped. Even when he lost his training base as a boy, even after multiple serious injuries, he kept going. His refusal to label those moments as setbacks is what allowed him to overcome them. His powerful mental strength to turn hitting bottom into an opportunity for further growth is the true essence of Yuzuru Hanyu.
Source: Sports Graphic Number 1120: June 2025 issue, pg 68-69
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