NAGANO — Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu was back on the ice Thursday afternoon at practice ahead of the Japan Championships for the first time since winning the Four Continents in Seoul back in February.
Hanyu, who skipped the Grand Prix season due concerns over Covid-19, did a run through of his new free skate to “Heaven and Earth” and worked on his quadruple jumps. The superstar looked as smooth as ever as he went through his paces.
“I felt a bit different as I had not skated with other skaters on the same rink for a while,” Hanyu stated. “In a sense, I found it fresh and enjoyable.”
The 26-year-old revealed his jump sequences to the media afterward.
“In my free program I will have a quad loop, quad salchow and two quad toe loops in the second half,” Hanyu commented. “In my short program (“Let Me Entertain You”) I will have a quad salchow and quad toe loop/triple toe loop in the first half, then a counter triple axel in the second half.”
After missing the nationals for three straight years due to illness and injury, Hanyu returned to compete last year in Tokyo, but saw Uno, the silver medalist in Pyeongchang, best him for the title.
Hanyu said he had mixed emotions about competing this year.
“My thought was I did not want to do anything that may lead to the spread of the virus or getting infected,” Hanyu remarked “I felt conflicted about participating here, but I decided to participate to hang on to my hope. I must attend as it is mandatory for selection for the world championships.”
Uno, meanwhile, said he is sticking with his programs from last season. They are “Great Spirit” for the short and “Dancing On My Own” for the free.
“There is no change in the composition. It’s exactly the same,” Uno noted. “Last year’s short and free jumps have not changed. I couldn’t change it. I was planning to change both the short and free.”
Uno will try to become the first man to win the national title five years in a row since Minoru Sano (Japan’s first male world medalist in 1977) did it from the 1972-73 season through 1976-77.
The action gets underway in the early afternoon on Christmas Day with the men’s and women’s short program at Big Hat Arena, site of the ice hockey competition at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Defending women’s champion Rika Kihira looked solid during her practice. She worked on her new short program choreographed by Benoit Richaud to Jennifer Thomas’ “The Fire Within.”
“It’s been a while since I have been able to skate at a rink in a venue like this, but I have been able to get a feel for the ice,” Kihira stated. “My triple axel didn’t work as I expected today, so I will prepare it more in training in the morning. The rest of the jumps were not bad. I will check and adjust them.”
Wakaba Higuchi, who was second behind Kihira last year, worked hard on her jumps in practice and will attempt a triple axel in both of her programs.
“For about two weeks I could not get the usual feeling of acceleration while jumping,” Higuchi said. “I was a little anxious and tried to jump a lot. I was able to land on the ice with a much better feeling than in Tokyo.”
Tomoe Kawabata, the bronze medalist at the nationals last year, struggled mightily during the training session. The 18-year-old has had a tough go of it lately. She was 10th at the NHK Trophy last month in Osaka.
Kaori Sakamoto, the winner at the NHK Trophy, looked strong going through her jumps and free skate to “The Matrix” and appears a good bet to be back on the podium two years after winning the national crown.
