[ENG TRANSLATION] Yuzuru Hanyu x Waseda Sports Part 2 – Excerpt from Medalists Interview

This is Part 2 of 3 of an article from Wasedasports.com published on 24 December 2019 which is a collection of excerpts from different interviews that Yuzuru Hanyu gave after the Japanese Nationals. Part 2 is an excerpt from the medalists interview. Read Part 1 here. Part 3 to come soon.

Translation: @yuzueco
Proofreading: @blueflame4yuzu, @axelsandwich

――今回の結果を受けたご感想は

Tell us your thoughts after you found out the result.

ありがとうございました。ここまでまた全日本で、これだけ死力を尽くして戦える瞬間というのがあって、非常に自分自身も熱くなりながら演技をすることができました。また、今回投げ込みが禁止ということもあって、自分の場合はすごくプーさんを投げていただいたりとかそういうこともあったんですけど、みなさんルールを守って、投げ込まないでとか注意してくださったり。ファン同士の中で色々注意ごとがあると思うんですけど、すごくそういうこと１つ１つ守っていただいて、こうやって最後まで素晴らしい大会になって本当によかったなと思います。ありがとうございました。

Thank you. Up to this point, there were moments when I could fight with all my might in the Japanese Nationals, and I was able to perform while becoming very passionate. Also throwing the gifts on the ice was banned at this competition. My fans have been throwing many Pooh-sans on the ice, but everyone was trying to follow the rules and even reminded the others that throwing gifts is prohibited. I think there are many things to take note of among fans. Everyone was really trying to follow every single one  of them, and in this way, this competition became a wonderful one until the end and it makes me very happy. Thank you so much.

――宇野昌磨選手とお二人とも、辛い思いを経験して再び全日本に戻ってこられました。ここに至るまでの道と結果は、ご自身にとってどんな意味のあるものですか

Both you and Shoma have experienced tough times and then came back to Japanese Nationals. The path that you’ve walked leading up to here (Japanese Nationals) and the results, what does it mean to you?

まず、本当に自分もそばで見ていることはなかったですけど、テレビの中で見ていてやはり自分が思ったような体の状態で試合に臨めないとか、僕自身もグランプリファイナルでコーチがいない状態になりましたけれども、どれだけ大変なことかというのはすごくわかっていて。彼（宇野昌磨）自身がコーチを離れるという決断をしたのも、その状態でグランプリファイナルに臨むという決断をしたのも、やはりすごく勇気のいることだったと思います。僕は本当に、素直に彼がこうやってまた自分の道を見つけて彼らしいスケートがまたできていることがすごく嬉しいですし、僕と彼の道はやはり……彼って言うの変だな、ゆづくんって言ってくれてるのでしょーまって言います（笑）。しょーまの、スケートを楽しんだりとかもちろんそのスケートから離れたりって言う時間もしょーまにとってはすごく大事で。僕が多分それをやってしまうと全てが崩壊してしまうときがあって、全部何かしら楽しんでいるときですらも、スケートのために今楽しんでおこうって考えちゃったりするし。でもそれはやっぱり、やっとしょーまがしょーまらしく戻ってこられてよかったなとすごく思いますし、だからこそオリンピックの銀メダリストになれたんだよって僕はすごく思っているので。さっき自分が思った以上の結果が出て頑張ったって言っていましたけど、思ったよりもしょーまは強いですし、弱いところもあるかもしれないですけどそれも含めてしょーまで、しょーまの強さだと僕は思うので。彼から学ぶこともたくさんあるし、僕も、いましんどいことももちろんありますけど、でも、こんなもんじゃねえぞってこれから頑張ります。

First of all, I wasn’t really watching by his side, but watching him on TV, I saw him not being able to participate with the physical condition which he wanted to be in, I myself also faced a situation with no coach at the GPF so I could really understand how difficult it is. For him [Shoma] to decide to part from his coach and aim to get a ticket to the Grand Prix Final in those circumstances, I think it was a very courageous thing to do. I am truly, honestly very happy that he found his way and is able to skate in his own way again. My path and his are over all…hmmm, it’s strange that I call him “He”, he calls me “Yuzu-kun” so I talk about him as “Shoma” (laughs) For Shoma, enjoying skating and of course, the time being away from it are both important. I think if I did the same thing, everything would probably come crumbling down. Because even when I am enjoying something else, I can’t help thinking that I should enjoy this moment now for the sake of skating later. But I really think it’s great that Shoma came back as who he is, I am really thinking that that’s why he could become a silver Olympic medalist. Shoma said earlier that he worked hard and got a result that was better than he expected but Shoma is stronger than he thinks. Maybe he has weaknesses as well but that’s a part of Shoma too and I think that is Shoma’s strength. I have a lot to learn from him, also I have some difficult things I’m facing myself right now, but I’d say this is not my limit, and push myself.

――きょうのFSでよかった点、悪かった点と、点の出方についてお聞かせください。この結果についての感想もお願いいたします。

Please tell us the good and bad points of the FS today, and also how the score came out. And your thoughts on this result please.

よかった点はないです。頑張りました。それ以上はないです。頭も使いました。ルッツが抜けた段階で何が３回転増やせるかなっていうのを考えたり、どこでより高い点数を稼ごうかなっていうことも考えましたけど、やれることは限られていて。それでも食らいついてやろうとはしました。でもやろうとしただけでできなかったっていうのはやはり悪いところですし……悪いところしかないので（笑）。なんて言ったらいいんですか、悪いところ全部あげますか（笑）？多分３０分くらい喋りますよ。まあ悪いところは、そうですね、頭と体を同時にコントロールできなかったかなって思っています。そこが一番今回難しかったところで、これがいっぱいいっぱいだったのかもしれないですけど、でも反省点です。あとは結果については、もちろん２位でしたし点数もすごく悪かったですし、それはもうこの演技だからしょうがないっていうのは元から分かっていて。演技終わった瞬間に、しょーまの点数も自分の中で分かっていたので、あぁやっと終わったなと思って。でも、すごく、僕の演技とか質問と乖離しちゃうんですが、この場だから言いたいんですけど、やっと多分しょーまが心から全日本王者って言えるようになったと思うんですよね。ずっと僕が休んでいて、怪我していて。戦ったらその前に、もっと前に負けていたかもしれないですけど、でも本当にやっと、しょーまがショート・フリーで戦う試合で初めてこうやって負けられたので、これから胸をはって頑張ってほしいと思います。全日本王者って大変だよ（笑）。でもこれから胸を張って、僕も含めて、まあ僕もまだ頑張るつもりではいるので、一緒にまた引っ張っていけたら。しょーま一人に載せるんじゃなくて、僕も一緒に背負って頑張っていけたらいいなと思うので。（宇野に向かって）頑張ろうね。おめでとう

There is nothing good. I just tried my best. Nothing more. I used my brain too. I was thinking about what I could do to add more triples after the popped Lutz, and where I could get a higher score, but there was only so much I could do. But I still hung on and tried everything that I could. But only trying and not being able to make it happen is after all a negative thing.There were only bad things in that performance. (laughs) What can I say, should I list all of the bad points? (laughs) I’ll probably speak for 30 minutes about it. Well, what was bad was.. Well, I think I couldn’t control my mind and body at the same time. That was the most difficult thing this time. I might have been overwhelmed, but it’s still something to reflect upon. And about the result, I ended up in 2nd and the score was really bad, and I knew from the beginning that it couldn’t be helped. The moment I finished my performance, since I knew Shoma’s score already, I felt, “Ahh, finally it’s over.” But I really want to say this here, even though this doesn’t respond to the question about my performance, I think Shoma can finally call himself the  “Japanese National Champion” from the bottom of his heart. I’ve not been there for a long time due to my injury. If I were to compete with him before this, I might have lost to him even earlier, but really, finally it was the first time that I lost to Shoma in (the combined scores) in the SP and FS like this* so…I want him to be proud of himself and keep going from now on. It is a hard thing being a Japanese National champion. (laughs) But from now on, I want him to have confidence, and including myself, well, I still intend to keep working hard too and if we can lead together again…It’s not just putting (the pressure) on Shoma only, but I feel that it’ll be good if I can shoulder (the pressure) too and work hard together. (Towards Shoma) Let’s work hard together. Congratulations! 

*T/N: This is purely our interpretation because he doesn’t elaborate, but we think he’s referring to World Team Trophy 2017 where Shoma beat him in the SP and the overall score but it was not counted because the two segments were calculated separately, the total score was not added up and they were on the same team. 

――いま隣に鍵山優真選手（神奈川・星槎国際高校横浜）がいて、さらにジュニアでもう一人、４回転を飛ぶ佐藤駿選手（埼玉栄）がいます。強力な選手の追い上げが来たことに関して率直な気持ちをお聞かせください。

There’s Yuma Kagiyama (Kanagawa Seisa International High School Yokohama) right next to you, and there’s another junior, Shun Sato (Sakae Saitama), who can do quads. Please tell us your candid feelings about the strong skaters catching up to you.

男子だけじゃなくて女子も含めて、こうやって４回転をどんどん飛ぶようになって。僕らもさっきしょーまも追われる立場という話をしていましたけど、１つ１つのジャンプを見てみれば追う立場であったりもするんですね。僕の場合４回転ルッツはそれだけまだ確率が悪かったりとか。もちろん４回転ループを試合で使うという選手もどんどん減ってきて、まあそれだけ難しいということはみんな分かっているかもしれないんですけど、でもやはりそれぞれのジャンプっていうことを考えてみれば追う立場だし、その技術をもっと身に付けたい、習得したいって思いなので。今回駿くん、フリーでは（４回転）ルッツは跳べていなかったですけど、でも公式練習で綺麗に跳べているのを見ていてやはりああいう風に飛べるようになりたいなって自分自身もやっぱり思いましたし。（鍵山）優真のトーループの精度、高さとか、あとは軸の強さとか、そういうところもやはり、見習うところは僕らにもあります。それぞれ違うタイプの選手だからこそ、見習うところをまた見て、うまくなっていくところっていうのはいっぱいあると思うので、嬉しいことだなと僕は思っています。

Not just the men, but including the ladies, it has come to a stage where they’re jumping quads one after another like this. We, like Shoma talked about earlier, are in the position of being chased but if we look at the jumps individually, actually we are in the position of catching up to the younger skaters. In my case, the 4Lz still has a low rate of success.Of course, there are fewer skaters who use 4Lo in competition, and just from that maybe everyone knows how difficult it is, but if you think about individual jumps, I am in the position where I am catching up, and my desire is to learn and embody it. Shun, this time, did not successfully land his 4Lz, but I saw him doing it beautifully at the official practice and it made me think that I want to be able to jump like that myself as well. Yuma’s accuracy and the height and the strength of the axis of 4T are some of the things that we can learn from. Since there are different types of skaters, I think it’s a great thing that there are many things we can watch again and learn by observation and get better at.

<< Read Part 1 here.