The athletes of Team Japan participating in this year’s World Team Trophy (Osaka) released comments on April 5th. Sochi & Pyeongchang Olympics Gold Medalist Yuzuru Hanyu (ANA), who will be participating in WTT for the 3rd time, expressed his thoughts [through a written message in which he wrote], “May I become a light for someone,” and also provided the following comments:
Yuzuru: In travelling to various places recently, there are not many people out and about, and I felt strongly that there are a lot of people who are out of work and are in difficult circumstances.
However, even amidst that, the people I’ve met, those who reach out to me—of course, I can’t say that this past World Championships was at all a good performance— but even so, when I receive words from people like “you gave me courage,” or am called the “light of hope,” I feel that even if I don’t get good results, or even if it’s not convincingly a good performance (for me), maybe it can be for someone else. I want to carry that in my heart through my performances and so that’s why I chose this phrase.
Yes… the World Championships don’t really feel real yet. Well there was the World Championships representatives press conference and the things I said there were not at all false, and I attended that press conference feeling as if I am really a Worlds (team) representative.
The fact I skated and fought through to the very end of the Japanese National Championships has become an important memory, something that won’t disappear.
However, assuming the World Championships will still be happening, what we have to face until then is, without doubt, the coronavirus with society as a whole.
The first thing is to stay healthy and there’s nothing I’d like more than to be able to quickly see and live in a world where we can go on with our (normal) athlete (activities), so I’d like to spend my time working towards that.
The kind of performance I want to show, and the things I want to express, ultimately, I cannot do any of that without being healthy. So firstly, I’d like to take good care of my body and also the people around me. I want to contribute what I can, as seriously as I can and with pride, in order to protect figure skating, which itself is something precious to me.
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Axel with Wings 