It’s been like 6 years since the last time I was vehemently attracted to the beauty and inspiring stories of Olympics Rio 2016. This time, in February 2022, the Beijing Winter Olympics proudly introduced to a new (?), young, professional and inspirational figure skater athletes whose stories go beyond ordinal definitions of grit and perseverance. His name is Yuzuru Hanyu.

Yuzuru Hanyu, as I have just recently found out, is also born in 1994. He started his skating career at the age of 4 when he accompanied his older sister to the skating ground. From the first curiosity to turn into passion, he spent countless of hours in the practicing, facing significant number of hardships (from his short endurance due to asthma, lack of skating ground due to earthquake, thousands of severe bruises, repetitive bone fractures and ankle injuries …) to perfect his skating skills. His well-known versatile artistry is built upon the solid foundation of technical abilities. His twists and turns, flips and jumps, every single and subtle movements are carefully studied, seamlessly integrated and impeccably executed. Since his debut in senior career in 2011, he has stayed competitive for more than a decade, achieving hundreds of titles and records including 2 Olympics Gold Medals, 2 World Champion Titles and 4 consecutive Grand Prix Final Champions Titles. Upon winning in major competitions in both his junior and senior career, he becomes the first ever male singles skater to achieve a Grand Slam. And by successfully defending his second Olympic Gold medal, he once again broke the record of being a two consecutive Olympic winner, a feat that had not been achieved since 1952. Unsurprisingly, in this very Olympics 2022, he is expected to keep the glory track and collect the third one, but he has a different plan, which may discourage some of his fans, but I completely resonate with his motivation which makes me more and more fond of this incredible man. He is so determined to land the Quadruple Axel Jump.

Quadruple Axel Jump is a tremendously difficult jump which has not yet been successfully completed in history of figure skating competitions. An incredible strength as well as flawless body control required for the jump makes it seemingly impossible for any professional skaters. The amount of Several attempts has been made, but no one ever succeeded. And since the score given for a perfect 4A jump is not comparable with the effort putting in practicing and executing the technique, most of athletes choose to bypass this mythically stunning jump. But not Yuzuru Hanyu. Putting the self-doubt behind, with more than 2 years of hard words, enduring physical, mental and emotional pain, he attempted this jump on 21 December 2021 in the Japan National Competition. Even though Hanyu Yuzuru’s 4A attempt was not successful, it’s still a historic moment in figure skating because this is the first landed 4A attempt, in front of the world. Once again, he did another attempt in an international competition in Olympics 2022. Despite falling on the jump, his 4A has been certified for the closest attempt to date. The road to a ratified Quadruple Axel Jump is long to go, and the climbing to the summit of an athlete ability is steep and rough, I believe he’ll keep going and reach his dream.

Like any other athletes, he unexceptionally had dreamed of being an Olympics Gold Medalist, and he did make it, not once, but twice. When people reach the zenith of achievements in their career, they find tangible accomplishments being not as very important as they were. Gold medals and trophies indeed are deserved acknowledgement for any champions. But Yuzuru, he’s looking for a self-fulfillment by constantly challenging himself to be greater. For Hanyu Yuzuru, winning a competition against himself is what really matter. In his own word, “I’m not a champion, I’m always a challenger”. His obsession with the 4A jump is demonstrative of a self-challenge to push his boundary further. By passion, perseverance, a solid plan, and a strong inner courage, no one can stop him to make his dream come true. I pray for him, a quiet stranger to me, to always be healthy in injure-free on his way to pursuit perfection.