Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu nearly becomes 1st skater to land quadruple axel

Dave Skretta · The Associated Press

· Posted: Dec 26, 2021 4:14 PM EST | Last Updated: December 26, 2021

Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu astir became the archetypal skater to onshore a quadruple axel portion easy outpacing Shoma Uno and Yumi Kagayami to triumph the Japanese nationalist title connected Sunday.

Hanyu tried the jump, which dissimilar different quads includes an further fractional rotation, astatine the opening of his escaped skate astatine Saitama Super Arena successful Japan. He yet two-footed the landing and the leap was downgraded to a triple axel, but it inactive acceptable the signifier for a programme that included 3 much quads and near him with 322.36 points.

"I'm honestly relieved," Hanyu told Kyodo News. "I felt arsenic though I was astir to outcry adjacent earlier the six-minute warmup."

Uno packed 5 quads into his escaped skate but hardly hung onto his quad flip and quad toed and fell connected different quad toe, leaving him with 295.82 points and the metallic medal. Kagiyami finished with 292.41 points.

The trio of Japanese skaters are expected to beryllium the toughest contention for American prima Nathan Chen astatine the Winter Olympics successful Beijing, which is acceptable to statesman successful conscionable nether six weeks. Chen competes astatine U.S. nationals successful 2 weeks.

"It is bully to beryllium capable to ticker skating. Even if I wasn't competing I would inactive privation to watch," Chen said past week, erstwhile asked astir Hanyu's instrumentality from an eight-month lack from contention owed mostly to an ankle injury.

"It volition beryllium breathtaking to spot however everyone is doing," said Chen, who has bushed Hanyu head-to-head 4 times since the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. "Will that truly interaction however I plan? Probably not. But it is inactive useful, I think, to benignant of person an knowing wherever everybody is at. But much than anything, skating is amusive to watch."

WATCH | Uno wins NHK Trophy with Hanyu absent:

Valieva underlines favourite status

In different imaginable Olympic preview this weekend, Russian prima Kamila Valieva drove location her presumption arsenic the overwhelming favourite successful Beijing with a record-setting show astatine her nationalist championship.

The victor of Skate Canada and the Rostelecom Cup scored 193.10 points successful her escaped skate, eclipsing her grounds 185.29 acceptable earlier this year, and finished with an astounding 283.48 points. That enactment her acold up of Alexandra Trusova, who finished with 248.65, and Anna Shcherbakova, who claimed the bronze medal with 239.56 points.

Valieva had acceptable the grounds for a Grand Prix lawsuit with her people of 272.71 points astatine the Rostelecom Cup.

Trusova and Shcherbakova could beryllium Valieva's closest contention astatine the Beijing Games. And if that's the case, the trio could let the Russian skaters to go the archetypal to expanse the Olympic podium for a azygous nation.

Sakamoto looks to situation Russians

In different results implicit the weekend, Kaori Sakamoto won the Japanese title with a people of 234.06 points, making her 1 of fewer skaters successful the satellite to station a people precocious capable to situation the Russians.

Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin won the Russian crystal creation rubric with a people of 223.37 points. That people topped the satellite champion acceptable by Olympic favorites Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France astatine Internationaux de France.

Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov won the Russian pairs title, scoring 243.74 points to outpace metallic medalists Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii and the third-place squad of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov.

Tarasova and Morozov, who finished 4th astatine the Pyeongchang Games, had a season-best 228.49 points during the Grand Prix season.