Yuzuru Hanyu: Can Japan’s figure skating star beat Nathan Chen to Beijing Olympics gold? Will quad axel help?

ByBen Snowball

Published 08/02/2022 at 14:16 GMT

Yuzuru Hanyu faces his biggest challenge yet after blowing the short programme at Beijing 2022. Ahead of the decisive free skate, the Japanese sensation must produce the greatest performance of his life to overcome record-setting Nathan Chen in the men’s figure skating singles. So is it possible? Will the quadruple axel make a difference? And what chance is there of Chen blowing his sizable lead?

Nathan Chen set a new short programme world record to blow apart the competition in the men’s singles – but it was a blunder from his biggest rival Yuzuru Hanyu that sparked the biggest gasps.

Japan star Hanyu, the champion from Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018, blew his first jump – rotating just once when he was meant to attempt a quadruple salchow. Although he recovered to deliver the rest of his performance with his famed grace and poise, he sits eighth at the halfway stage.

Chen’s record 113.97 score leaves him the overwhelming favourite for a first Olympic title, with Japanese duo Yuma Kagiyama (108.12) and Shoma Uno (105.90) the only other athletes to crack the 100-point barrier.

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Hanyu is safely through to Thursday’s free skate but faces mission impossible to overhaul Chen. He sits on 95.15, meaning he must overturn a whopping 18.82-point deficit for gold and claw back 10.75 points just to make the podium.

It leaves us all asking the same question: can it be done?

'A little confused' - Hanyu at a loss to explain short programme disaster

CAN QUAD AXEL SAVE YUZURU HANYU’S DREAM?

The build-up to the figure skating at the Beijing Olympics was dominated by talk of one move: the quadruple axel.

Never landed successfully in competition, Hanyu has already spoken of his desire to become the first skater to do so. Now with his back against the wall, he will have no choice but to go for an ultra-aggressive routine headlined by his not-so-secret weapon.

Figure skating scoring is extraordinarily complex and we’ve tried our best to break it down here. Basically each jump is awarded a base value – the riskier the move, the more points on offer. The problem with the quadruple axel, while sounding mystically unattainable, is the risk doesn’t merit the reward.

It was previously scored at a base value of 15.00, but it was slashed to 12.50 before anyone had even dared to drop one on the main stage. It’s still the biggest value jump in figure skating but not significantly more than other quad jumps – the quad lutz is 11.5, for example. Given Chen has plenty of quad jumps in his locker, the quadruple axel alone won’t be enough to save Hanyu.

WHAT IS A QUAD AXEL?

An axel is the toughest of the six jumps in figure skating. It’s the only one that begins with the skater facing forwards so it’s easy to spot. It begins with outside edge entry (the outside part of the blade) and finishes with an outside edge landing on the opposite foot.

Given the move starts forwards and finishes backwards, a quadruple axel actually means a four-and-a-half rotation – making it extra devilish.

Watch Chen's spellbinding world record figure skating routine at Beijing 2022

WHY CAN’T YUZURU HANYU JUST DO LOADS OF JUMPS AND RACK UP POINTS?

While the free skate is not as prescriptive as the short programme, which has strict requirements, it has a maximum amount of elements that a skater can perform.

Should Hanyu exceed the limit (he obviously won’t) then he wouldn’t receive any more points.

And anyway, it’s not just jumps that rack up points. Skaters are not only judged on the technical aspect (i.e. how difficult the jumps and how they are executed) but also on their programme components (PCS), which covers things like skating skills, transitions, choreography and composition.

The technical score (TES) and PCS are then added together for the overall total.

'Just elated, it means a lot' - Chen reacts to stunning world record

SO WHAT CHANCE DOES YUZURU HANYU HAVE OF BEATING NATHAN CHEN?

Not much. Chen boasts the world record in the free skate (as well as the short programme) – his tally of 224.92 points is the highest mark in history, over 10 points clear of Hanyu’s best (212.99). He also finished top of the free skate standings at Pyeongchang 2018, even if he did miss out on a medal on that occasion.

Hanyu would need to produce the greatest performance of his life, aided by the quadruple axel, to flirt with the 220-point barrier and keep his hopes alive. He is capable of closing the 10-point gap on his compatriots currently in the other podium spots, but he will need assistance to get on the top step.

And that’s where Chen's history provides him with a glimmer of hope.

The 22-year-old may now by the undisputed world No. 1 on the figure skating circuit but he has shown vulnerability. Only a memorable salvage mission – featuring five four-rotation jumps in the free skate – saw him win the 2021 World Championships after he fell in the short programme.

Chen is also seeking to banish his Olympic demons. He stacked it in the team event at Pyeongchang 2018 and made a series of errors in the individual short programme. Could the weight of expectation strike again – especially as he will have the added pressure of being the last to perform?

Given there are more than double the points on offer in the free skate than the short programme, Hanyu will believe he has a chance of upsetting the odds. If he can produce his greatest show yet and Chen fluffs up, then maybe – just maybe – Hanyu and his legion of passionate super fans, the Fanyus, will be toasting the comeback of the Games.

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Tune in at 01:30 GMT on Thursday to watch the final chapter of Chen v Hanyu on discovery+

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