Japan’s Hanyu atop the world

HELSINKI — Yuzuru Hanyu pulled off a remarkable comeback to win the world figure skating title yesterday, a boost to his bid to retain his Olympic title next year.

Hanyu was fifth after the short program but produced a world-record free skate score of 223.30 points, landing four quadruple jumps, for a winning total of 321.59.

Short program leader Javier Fernandez of Spain, skating last, dropped to fourth with a fall and other errors, giving Hanyu his second career world title after victory in 2014.

Hanyu, who was in tears of joy after learning his score, praised the passionate support from Japanese fans.

“After the short program, I was quite depressed. I was so deeply depressed,” he said. “But the fans and the team believed in me.”

Still, Hanyu suggested his struggles on Thursday could foreshadow problems at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

“I still feel it’s very difficult to put out two clean programs,” he said. “Toward the Olympic season, it’s important to skate clean both in the short and the free, these two programs together.”

The silver went to countryman Shoma Uno with a 319.31-point total on a strong day for figure skating in Japan, which has won six of the 12 world championships men’s medals awarded over the last four seasons.

China’s Jin Boyang was the bronze medalist for the second straight year, scoring 303.58.

“I just want to focus on my program and make it perfect, and I did it,” Jin said. “Whether I got a medal or not, I was quite happy.”

Three-time world champion Patrick Chan was fifth behind fellow veteran Fernandez, while U.S. champion Nathan Chen finished sixth.

Sixth place for Chen and seventh for Jason Brown meant the U.S. joined Japan as the only two countries to earn the maximum three spots in the men’s event at the Olympics.

Also, Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir survived a slip by Moir on their free dance to win the ice dance, completing a triumphant comeback season. The United States won its only medal of the worlds as siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani took bronze with 185.18.