Hanyu vows ‘dream’ dance for adoring fans
GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb 13, (AFP): Defending men’s Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu vowed on Tuesday to deliver “a dream performance” in Pyeongchang to reward his huge army of adoring fans.
The Japanese rink idol completed his first full practice session — quads and all — at the Gangneung Ice Arena where on Friday his quest begins to become the first skater since American Dick Button in 1952 to win back-to-back titles.
With the Sochi 2014 and double world champion’s every move scrutinised by coach Brian Orser and several hundred
Then, with every lense focused on the press conference door, it opened and the skating deity took his seat behind the only name on the table — Yuzuru Hanyu — accompanied by a cacophony of camera lenses.
With his floppy fringe falling over his eyes he surveyed the scene before him and said: “I understand not many skaters can be surrounded by so many press like me now.
“With your coverage they will be listening and looking at me and I feel so grateful that so many people will be watching me skate.
“So many people are waiting for me to skate, I want to give them the performance to make their wait worth it.
“This is my dream stage and I want to give my dream performance.”
US quad prodigy Nathen Chen, Europe’s six-time champion Javier Fernandez, Sochi silver medallist Patrick Chan, China’s Jin Boyang and his fellow Japanese Shoma Uno are all lying in wait.
It remains to be seen if Hanyu can get back to top form in time after damaging ankle ligaments during training.
His hopes of an Olympic double were dealt a dreadful blow when he crash-landed a quadruple lutz in November. There were dark days, he recalled. “After the injury my ankle wasn’t moving, after two months I was still having difficulty. Valeria Tarakanova stick-side 8:02 for the 1-0 lead. After getting only seven shots on goal in the first, LamoureuxDavidson led a breakout in the second for the United States.
Lamoureux-Davidson tapped in the rebound of a shot from her twin sister , Monique Lamoureux-Morando, at 11:46.
Off the ensuing faceoff, the puck wound up in the skates of two Russian players and she poked it away to give herself a breakaway. She dipped her right shoulder and feigned a forehand shot before beating Tarakanova with a backhand.
The Canadians are playing on their favorite stage at the Olympics, and their top line of captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Megan Agosta and Melodie Daoust is peaking at just the right time.
Agosta and Daoust each had a goal and an assist, and Canada beat Finland 4-1 Tuesday in pursuit of the country’s fifth straight Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey. Poulin added a goal as the line combined for five points.
“The three of them together obviously can create some magic for us, and they sure have done that for us in the last two games,” Canada coach Laura Schuler said.
With the win, the Canadians have outscored consecutive opponents 9-1 going into their preliminary round showdown Thursday with their biggest rivals, the United States.