Yuzuru Hanyu steps forward to next stage

Yuzuru Hanyu photo by Yoshiki Kogaito
Photo By スポニチ

　Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu officially announced his retirement from competitions at a press coference held in Tokyo Tuesday.

In a conference, Hanyu said "I decided to continue skating as a professional skater". He said that he will continue to challenge quad axel, which no skater has ever been successful.

Hanyu, 27 years old, has won gold medals in Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games consecutively. At Beijing Games this year he finished fourth, while he challenged Quad Axel, which was accredited as the first attempt in history.

he is only men's skater who achived a Super Slam, as he has won Junior GP Final, World Junior Championship at junior stage, while as a senior, he won Olympics, GP Finals, World Championships, Four Continents Championships.

His hometown Sendai was attacked by Tohoku Earthquake in 2011. Since then he has seen and acted as a symbol of reconstruction and restart of Tohoku region.