Yuzuru Hanyu

Hanyu first competed nationally as a novice skater in the 2004–05 season; he skated at the 2004 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice B category, which is the lower of the two categories at the novice level, and won the gold medal in this competition.[37] His home rink then closed due to financial problems, reducing his training time.[29] Nanami Abe became his coach around that time.[29] In the 2006–07 season, Hanyu competed at the 2006 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category and won the bronze medal.[38] This placement earned him an invitation to compete at the 2006–07 Japan Junior Championships, where he placed 7th.[39]

Hanyu's home rink reopened in 2007.[29] He competed at the 2007 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category and won the event.[40] He was invited to compete in the 2007–08 Japan Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medal.[41]

Hanyu moved up to the junior level and debuted at the ISU Junior Grand Prix. He placed 6th in the short program and 4th in the free skating to finish 5th overall at the event in Merano, Italy.[42] Following his Junior Grand Prix event, Hanyu placed 4th in the short program with 57.25 points and 1st in his free skating with 124.92 points, giving him a total of 182.17 points to win the gold medal overall at the 2008–09 Japan Junior Championships.[43] He was the youngest male skater to win Japan Junior Championship, at the age of 13. This competition served both as the junior national championships and the World Junior Championships qualifier, so Hanyu was also qualified by this placement for the 2009 World Junior Championships.

The medal also earned him an invitation to compete on the senior level at the 2008–09 Japan Championships, where he placed 8th.[44] At the 2009 World Junior Championships in February, Hanyu placed 11th in the short program with 58.18 points and 13th in his free skating with 103.59 points, giving him a total of 161.77 points to finish 12th overall.[45]

In the 2009–10 season, Hanyu won both of his Junior Grand Prix events, in Croatia and Poland, and finished as the top qualifier for the Junior Grand Prix Final. At the 2009–10 Japan Junior Championships, he won the short program and placed 2nd in the free skating to win the title overall.[46] This earned Hanyu an invitation to compete on the senior level at the 2009–10 Japan Championships. He then competed at and won the 2009–10 Junior Grand Prix Final, achieving a new personal best score.[47] At the 2009–10 Japan Junior Championships, he placed first on the junior level. He also competed at the senior level, where he came in sixth. Based on his results, Hanyu was chosen to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships. He won the competition after placing third in the short program and first in the free skating to earn a new personal best of 216.10 points, and became the fourth, and the youngest, Japanese man to win the junior world title.[48]

Hanyu at the 2010 Cup of Russia

For the 2010–11 season, Hanyu moved up to the senior level at the age of 15. His assignments for the 2010–11 Grand Prix series were the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Cup of Russia.[49] In his senior debut at the 2010 NHK Trophy, Hanyu placed 5th in the short program with 69.31 points; in his free skating, he landed his first quadruple toe loop jump in an ISU competition and came in 4th with 138.41 points, giving him a total of 207.72 points to finish 4th overall.[50] Hanyu finished in seventh place at the Cup of Russia.[51] At the 2010–11 Japan Championships, Hanyu was in second place after the short program, but faltered in the free skating and finished fourth overall. As the result, he was selected to compete at the 2011 Four Continents Championships, where he won the silver medal with a new personal best score.[52]

Hanyu was skating at his home rink in Sendai when the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck his hometown and the region. Water pipes under the ice at his home rink burst as a result of the April 2011 Miyagi earthquake.[53][54] He trained in Yokohama and Hachinohe, Aomori until his home rink reopened on July 24, 2011.[28][53][55] He also skated in 60 ice shows, using them as an opportunity to train.[29] In April, he and other skaters took part in an ice show to raise money for the victims.[28][55]

Hanyu performing a Biellmann spin at the 2011 Cup of China

Hanyu began the 2011–12 season with a win at the Nebelhorn Trophy. He placed first in both the short program and the free skating, for a combined total score of 226.26 points.[56] For the 2011–12 Grand Prix series, he was assigned to the 2011 Cup of China and the 2011 Rostelecom Cup.[57] He finished 4th at the Cup of China,[58] then won the Rostelecom Cup with a new personal best score[59] to qualify for his first senior Grand Prix Final, where he placed fourth.[60]

Hanyu then won the bronze medal at the 2011–12 Japan Championships, earning a spot on the Japanese team for the 2012 World Championships. In his senior Worlds debut, Hanyu was seventh in the short program but placed second in the free skating. He won the bronze medal overall with a total score of 251.06 points, behind gold medalist Patrick Chan of Canada and silver medalist, his teammate, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan.[61]

In April 2012, Hanyu switched coaches to Brian Orser in Toronto, Canada.[62][63] It was reported he would make frequent trips to Toronto and continue to attend high school in Sendai.[62] After moving to Canada, Hanyu increased his on-ice training to 3–4 hours a day, up from 1–2 hours which had been due to a combination of limited ice time in Sendai, schooling, and asthma.[28][29]

Hanyu began his season at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, where he won the gold medal. He landed two quadruple jumps, a quad toe loop, and a quad salchow, in his free skating; it was the first time he had landed the latter jump in competition.[63][64] Hanyu won the silver medal at his first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2012 Skate America. His short program score at Skate America, 95.07 points, was a new world record.[65][66] At his second event, the 2012 NHK Trophy, he scored 95.32 in the short program, beating his own world record,[67][68] and went on to win the gold medal in his hometown.[69][70] Hanyu qualified for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final in Sochi, where he finished second.[71]

In December 2012, Hanyu claimed his first national title at the 2012–13 Japan Championships after placing first in the short program and second in the free skating.[72] He took silver at the 2013 Four Continents Championships, having placed first in the short program and third in the free skating.[73] At the 2013 World Championships, he was ninth in the short program and third in the free skating, finishing fourth overall.[74]

Hanyu with Mao Asada at the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final Banquet

In the 2013–14 season, Hanyu succeeded in capturing the Grand Prix Final, Olympic, and World titles and breaking the record for the short program twice. He was also the first skater to break the 100-point barrier in the short program.

Hanyu began his season at the 2013 Finlandia Trophy, where he won the gold medal after placing first in both the short program and free skating.[75] He won silver in both of his 2013–14 Grand Prix events, the 2013 Skate Canada International and 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, qualifying him for the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final. At the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 99.84 points and set a new world record.[65] He also won the free skating with a personal best of 193.41 despite falling on the quadruple Salchow and won the title with a total score of 293.25 points.[76]

In December 2013, Hanyu competed at the 2013–14 Japan Championships where he went on to win a second Japanese national title after placing first in both programs. He earned 103.10 points in the short program and 194.70 in the free skating.[77] He was subsequently named to Japan's teams to the Olympics and World Championships.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Hanyu competed for Team Japan at the Figure Skating Team Event. During the team event, he took part only in the men's short program, where he scored 97.98 points, winning that segment of the competition and giving Team Japan 10 points.[78] They finished 5th at the end of the competition.

Hanyu broke his own world record in the men's short program individual event, scoring 101.45 points. He was the first skater to score over 100 points in the short program.[79] Hanyu obtained 178.64 points in the free skating and won the first Olympic gold medal for Japan in men's figure skating event, and only the second for the nation, his following Shizuka Arakawa's gold medal in the women's event in 2006 in Turin. His win also marked the first time an Asian country has won gold in the men's event. He was the youngest winner of the Olympic men's title since American Dick Button in 1948.[80][81][82] Hanyu was also the only Japanese athlete to win gold in Sochi.[83] After winning the gold medal, he returned to Sendai, where a parade attended by 92,000 people was held in celebration.[84]

Hanyu (right) and Tatsuki Machida at the 2014 World Championships

Hanyu completed the season with a victory at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. Following a fall in a Quad toe loop in the short program, Hanyu sat in 3rd place coming into the final with a score of 91.24, 6.97 points behind compatriot Tatsuki Machida. He came back with a free skating earning 191.35 points to win that segment of the competition and claiming his first World title scoring 282.59 points overall. His total score was 0.33 points ahead of silver medalist Machida.[85]

Hanyu became the first skater since Alexei Yagudin (in 2002) to win the Olympics, World Championships, and Grand Prix Final in the same season.[86] His free skating costume was designed by American figure skater Johnny Weir.[87]

Hanyu's 2014–15 season was plagued by injury and illness. Despite that, Hanyu defended his Grand Prix Final title and earned a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships.

Hanyu at the 2015 World Championships

Hanyu withdrew from the 2014 Finlandia Trophy due to a back injury.[88][89] For the 2014–15 Grand Prix season, he was selected to compete at the 2014 Cup of China and 2014 NHK Trophy.[90]

At the Cup of China, Hanyu was second in the short program.[89] The next day, during the free skating warm-up, Hanyu had a collision with China's Yan Han. Hanyu was visibly injured but decided to compete. He fell five times in the free skating but scored enough to win the silver medal. After the competition, he received stitches on his head and chin.[91][92][93] He flew to Japan for further treatment. He had bruising to his chin and head, hurt his midriff and left thigh, and sprained his right ankle.[94][95][96][97]

A few days before the NHK Trophy, he announced that he would compete but stated that he wasn't in top form.[98][99] He struggled in the short program, placing fifth.[100][101] The next day, he continued to have difficulties but placed third in the free skating, fourth overall. The score just barely, by a 0.15 point margin, earned him a spot to the Grand Prix Final.[102][103] At the Final, he was first in both the short program (94.08 points) and free skating (194.08 points, a new personal best score and the overall highest free skating score of the season),[104] earning the gold medal. His total score was 34.26 points higher than silver medalist Javier Fernández.[105]

In December 2014, Hanyu competed in the 2014–15 Japan Championships. He placed first in both the short program and free skating with a total score of 286.86 points, earning him his third consecutive Japan National Championships title and the first spot for Japan at the 2015 World Championships.[106] He withdrew from the gala following the competition due to abdominal pain.[107] Hanyu was diagnosed with a bladder problem related to the urachus and had surgery. He was hospitalized for two weeks, and was expected to resume training a month afterward. However, in the middle of February, he sprained his right ankle and once again, suspended on-ice training for two weeks. In March, his training restarted in Japan without his coach, Brian Orser.[108]

He competed at the 2015 World Championships, where he scored a season's best in the short program. He entered as 1st into the free skating, and scored 175.88, for a total of 271.08. He finished second behind Spain's Javier Fernández by less than 3 points, and over bronze medalist Denis Ten.[109]

He competed for the first time at the 2015 World Team Trophy, in Tokyo, Japan. He scored first in both the short program (with a new season's best) and the free skating, receiving 24 points to help Team Japan win the bronze medal, behind Team USA and Team Russia. He was the only skater to win both segments in that competition.[110]

Hanyu at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final

The 2015–16 season saw Hanyu break all three men's figure skating world records twice, become the first man to break the 200-point and 300-point barriers in the free skating and total scores respectively, become the first man to win three consecutive Grand Prix Final titles[111] and earn a silver medal at the 2016 World Championships, despite an injury in his left foot.[112]

For the 2015–16 season, Hanyu decided to skate to a Japanese theme for his free skating, with music from the soundtrack to the films Onmyōji and Onmyōji 2 where he would be portraying natural philosopher and astrologer Abe no Seimei.[113] He also met up with Mansai Nomura, the actor who portrayed Seimei in the film to get advice on how to portray him.[114]

Hanyu started his season by winning gold at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic, finishing 36 points ahead of the silver medalist, Nam Nguyen.[115] For the 2015–16 Grand Prix series, Hanyu was selected to compete at Skate Canada and NHK Trophy.[116]

At 2015 Skate Canada International, he placed sixth in the short program with a score of 73.25 points after invalidating his popped quadruple toe loop into a double and breaking the Zayak Rule by executing a triple Lutz-double toe loop instead of a planned triple Lutz-triple toe loop.[117] In the free skating, he pulled up to second with a score of 186.29, after executing three quadruple jumps including the quadruple Salchow and toe loop in the first half, and quadruple toe loop-double toe loop in the second.[118] He finished second overall behind Patrick Chan and above Daisuke Murakami with a total score of 259.54.[119][120]

At the 2015 NHK Trophy, Hanyu placed first in the short program with a world record score of 106.33.[121] He cleanly executed a quadruple Salchow, a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, and a triple Axel.[122] In the free skating, Hanyu landed three clean quadruple jumps, two clean triple Axels, and five clean triple jumps to receive 216.07 and a combined total of 322.40, breaking both world records. With this result, he qualified for the Grand Prix Final in second place with 28 ranking points.[123][124]

At the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Hanyu broke the short program record which he had set just two weeks prior, totaling a score of 110.95 points, putting him in the lead, 19.43 points ahead of Javier Fernandez.[125][126] In the free skating, Hanyu again broke his own record, scoring 219.48 points, giving him a combined total of 330.43, which was also a new world record, and his third Grand Prix Final title in a row. Hanyu is the first man to have won Grand Prix Final for three consecutive seasons.[127] He won with a margin of 37.48 points, breaking the previous victory margin record held by Evgeni Plushenko in 2004 (35.1 points).

On December 26, 2015, Hanyu won his fourth consecutive title at the 2015–16 Japan Championships, leading in both the short program and the free skating.[128] Following that event, Hanyu announced that he would not compete at the 2016 Four Continents Championships because he planned to focus on training for the 2016 World Championships.[129]

Hanyu skated another clean short program at the 2016 World Championships, scoring 110.56 points. He won that segment of the competition and had a 12.04-point lead over Javier Fernández, who came in second.[130] In the free skating, Hanyu put a hand down on a quadruple Salchow, fell on the second attempt without putting it into a combination, stepped out of a triple Axel, popped a triple Salchow into a double, and had another hand down on the triple Lutz. After an error-filled performance, he finished the competition in 2nd place, behind Javier Fernandez.[131][132]

On April 26, the Japan Skating Federation announced that Hanyu would be taking two months off the ice to heal from injury. He had been dealing with pain in his left foot since the beginning of the season, which got worse in January. The pain was the reason why Hanyu elected to do two quadruple Salchows in his free skating at Worlds, instead of two quadruple toe loops. Hanyu was diagnosed with Lisfranc ligament damage in his left foot.[112][133]

Hanyu and fellow Japanese figure skater Shoma Uno at the 2017 World Championships

In the 2016–17 season, Hanyu succeeded in being the first skater in history to land a quadruple loop,[134] defending his Grand Prix Final title,[135] and recapturing his World title while breaking the world record for the free skating score.[136]

For the 2016–17 Grand Prix, Hanyu's assignments were Skate Canada International and NHK Trophy. His short program music was "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the free skating music was from "Asian Dream Song" & "View of Silence" by Joe Hisaishi, while the program's title (given by Hanyu) was "Hope and Legacy".

Hanyu competed at the Autumn Classic International, where he won the gold medal and became the first skater in history to successfully land a quadruple Loop in competition.[21][137]

At the 2016 Skate Canada International, he placed fourth in the short program, after landing his first jump on one knee, nearly putting his hand on the ice on the second and failing to perform a jump combination.[138] In the free skating, he pulled up to first with a score of 183.41. Overall he finished second behind Patrick Chan, and ahead of Kevin Reynolds.

Following this, at the NHK Trophy, Hanyu scored 103.89 in the short program and led this segment of the competition by almost 16 points over Nathan Chen. In his free skating, Hanyu landed three quadruple jumps: a loop, a Salchow, and a toe loop, but made mistakes on two other jumping passes. He broke the three-hundred point barrier again, scoring 301.47 and winning the gold medal.[139]

At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in Marseille, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 106.53 points after a solid showing. During the free skating, Hanyu had a strong start with clean jumps in the first half of the program but made mistakes on three jumping passes in the latter half. He came in third in that segment of the competition, but thanks to his score advantage from the short program finished first overall and became the first man to win four consecutive Grand Prix finals.[135]

After developing the flu, Hanyu withdrew from the Japanese National Championships.[140] Despite this, he was selected to compete at the 2017 Four Continents Championships and 2017 World Championships.

At the 2017 Four Continents Championships, Hanyu placed third in the short program with a score of 97.04 points, due to a mistake in his combination.[141] During his free skating, despite a strong start, he again made an error in what was supposed to be a quadruple-triple combination. Hanyu then improvised his layout for the second half of the program, successfully changing three of his jumping passes into more difficult elements to maximize his score after the mistake. He placed first in the free skating with a score of 206.67 but overall finished second behind Nathan Chen by about four points.

At the 2017 World Championships, Hanyu was fifth after the short program after invalidating the second part of his combination and receiving a time deduction. In the free skating, Hanyu landed all of his jumps cleanly with high grades of execution, including four quadruple jumps and two triple Axels, as well as executing level four footwork and spins. He scored 223.20 in the free skating and set a new world record and a personal best, finishing the competition with 321.59 points, winning his second World title.[136][142] The second was Japan's Shoma Uno (319.31), while China's Boyang Jin (303.58) took bronze.[143]

At the 2017 World Team Trophy, Hanyu came in seventh place after a mistake-laden short program; he invalidated one element and failed to perform a combination.[144] In the free skating Hanyu placed first after receiving 200.49 points for a program that featured four quadruple jumps, three of which with positive grades of execution, while also becoming the first skater to complete three quadruple jumps in the second half of a free skating program. However, he singled two other jumps.[144][145] Overall he added 18 points to the team score and took gold with Team Japan.[146]

The 2017–18 season was a turbulent one for Hanyu after an injury he had suffered in November 2017 kept him off the ice for two months and sidelined him from competing for three months in the middle of his preparations for the Olympics.[147] Despite being able to participate in only three events that season, he managed to set a new world record for the short program,[148] land his first quadruple Lutz in competition[15] and defend his Olympic title.[17]

For the 2017–18 season, Hanyu returned to Chopin's "Ballade No. 1" for his short program, the same music he used two seasons ago for his world record-breaking short program. He also decided to repeat his free skating to the soundtrack from the film Onmyōji, with an upgraded layout compared to the one he performed in the 2015–16 season.[149]

His assignments for the 2017–18 Grand Prix series were the 2017 Rostelecom Cup and the 2017 NHK Trophy.[150]

At his first competition of the season, Skate Canada Autumn Classic International, he received 112.72 points for his short program, breaking the world record he had set previously at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final (110.95). Hanyu executed all of his jumping passes cleanly, with two of them receiving the highest grade of execution (+3.00) unanimously from the judges.[151] Due to pain in his right knee, he elected to not perform a quadruple loop in this competition.[148] During the free skating, Hanyu performed an error-filled program, placing 5th with a score of 155.52 points. He won the silver medal overall behind Javier Fernández.[152]

At the 2017 Rostelecom Cup, Hanyu was second after the short program. He under-rotated and lost balance on his opening quadruple loop jump and fell after his combination.[153][154] The next day, Hanyu landed his first quadruple Lutz in competition and received +1.14 grade of execution for the jump. Despite making mistakes on two of his jumping passes, his performance pulled him to first in the free skating, with a score of 195.92. Overall, he finished second behind Nathan Chen by around three points.

Hanyu injured a lateral ligament in his right ankle while practicing the quadruple Lutz on November 9, 2017. As a result, he decided to withdraw from the 2017 NHK Trophy, which automatically prevented him from competing for his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final title.[155][156][157] Due to his recovery taking longer than expected, Hanyu also decided to withdraw from the 2017 Japanese National Championships. Despite missing the event serving as an Olympic qualifier for Japanese skaters, he would be assured of a spot on the Olympic team, given his top world standing and position as the reigning world champion.[158]

On December 24, 2017, it was announced that Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Italy.[159][160] On February 3, it was announced that Hanyu would not participate in the team event at the Olympics to buy more time for practice at his training base in Toronto in preparation for the individual event.[161]

Hanyu arrived in South Korea on February 11, accompanied by heavy security detail and amid intense media coverage.[162] His practice sessions at the Olympics were a subject of media scrutiny and were attended by hundreds of reporters.[163][164][165] At a press conference on February 13, held by Hanyu after one of his official practices, he revealed he was off the ice until January[147] and started executing triple jumps just three weeks, and quadruple jumps just two weeks before the competition,[166] and that he still had not decided which technical elements he would use for the event.[167]

Hanyu at the 2018 Winter Olympics gala exhibition

On February 16, Hanyu performed a flawless short program, for which he scored 111.68 points, putting him first in that segment of the competition. The score was just 1.04 points shy of his personal best of 112.72, which was also the then-world record.[168] The next day, he went on to score 206.17 points in the free skating with a solid program that included four quadruple jumps, three of them landed cleanly with nearly maximum grades of execution. He earned 317.85 points overall, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal, a feat that had not been achieved since Dick Button's back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1952.[169] Hanyu's medal was the 1000th medal awarded in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. He stood on the podium with his compatriot Shoma Uno (silver) and training mate Javier Fernandez (bronze).[170] Hanyu was the most discussed and mentioned athlete of these Olympics on Twitter.[171][172]

During a press conference on February 18, Hanyu revealed that he performed his Olympic practices and programs on strong painkillers, admitting that if he wasn't taking medication, he would be unable to attempt the jumps or land them. The ankle injury he sustained in November, which forced him to go on a 3-month hiatus from competing and lower the technical difficulty of his programs for the Olympics, turned out to be more severe than anticipated. He stated that his future competition plans were unclear since the injury had not healed yet and he wanted to focus on full recovery. However, Hanyu said he had no intention to quit skating, and that his next goal would be landing a quadruple Axel, a jump that has never been landed in competition.[173]

On March 7, 2018, the Japan Skating Federation announced that Hanyu decided to withdraw from the upcoming World Championships in Milan, Italy, to allow his injured foot to recover. After a medical examination following his Olympic win, it was revealed that the damaged ligaments in his right ankle and other unspecified injuries required at least two weeks of rest and three months of rehabilitation to heal.[174]

On April 22, 2018, Hanyu paraded in his hometown, Sendai, to celebrate his consecutive Olympic gold medals, and more than 100,000 people participated.[175] The profit, worth approximately 22 million yen after deducting the total cost of the parade, was donated to a local figure skating federation.[176]

Hanyu receives the People's Honour Award from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

In April 2018, Hanyu hosted his first self-produced show, "Continues with Wings", at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in Tokyo, Japan, to which he invited skaters who influenced and inspired him throughout his career.[177] His guests included Evgeni Plushenko, Johnny Weir, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Jeffrey Buttle, and Takahito Mura among others. Hanyu himself performed a medley of his various old programs, skipping jumps due to his injury.[178] During an interview after the last day of the show, Hanyu reaffirmed his desire to continue skating, stating that he wishes to be ready to come back for the 2018–19 Grand Prix series and to "compete in as many events as possible".[179]

On June 1, 2018, it was announced that Hanyu would receive the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan. Hanyu is the youngest among the 25 recipients since the award's creation in 1977 and the first figure skater to be given the honor. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stated that the award was given in appreciation of Hanyu's "historic achievement" that "gave dreams and thrills to the people and hope and courage to society".[22]

The 2018–19 season was also a hectic one for Hanyu after a mid-season injury again forced him to step away from competition for four months. Despite this, he succeeded in setting 6 new world records and winning a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.

In August 2018, Hanyu announced that for the upcoming season his short program would be set to "Otoñal" by Raúl di Blasio and choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle. His free skating, titled "Origin" by Hanyu, would be performed to "Art on Ice" and "Magic Stradivarius" by Edvin Marton and choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. The former pays tribute to Johnny Weir's 2004–05 free skating program and the latter is a homage to Evgeni Plushenko's "Tribute to Nijinsky" program, which was his free skating in the 2003–04 season. On choosing music used previously by his skating idols, Hanyu remarked "I am satisfied that as a result (of my Olympic success) I have been released from the pressure that I have to produce results. I think and feel, that I can skate for myself from now on. I want to go back to my skating origins".[180]

Hanyu at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup victory ceremony

For the 2018–19 Grand Prix series, Hanyu was assigned to the Grand Prix of Helsinki and Rostelecom Cup.[181]

Hanyu started the season by competing at Skate Canada Autumn Classic International. He received 97.74 points for his short program after invalidating one of his spins.[182] In the free skating, Hanyu received 165.91 points due to several mistakes on his jumps, which placed him second behind training mate Junhwan Cha. He finished first overall with a score of 263.65 thanks to his lead after the short program.[183]

At his first Grand Prix event, the Grand Prix of Helsinki, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 106.69 points, a world record score under the newly introduced +5/-5 GOE system.[184] In the free skate, he performed four quadruple jumps, including the never-before-attempted quadruple toe loop-triple Axel sequence. Despite under-rotating two of his jumps, Hanyu scored 190.43 points for a total of 297.12 points, setting two more world records in the process and winning the gold medal by a margin of nearly 40 points.[185][186]

At the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 110.53 points, a new world record score. On the following day, he re-injured his right ankle in practice after falling on a quad loop jump. He considered withdrawing from the event but opted to compete aided by painkillers after changing his program layout last minute to an easier one. He placed first in the free skating with a score of 167.89 and placed first overall with a score of 278.42. This marked the first time Hanyu won gold at both of his Grand Prix assignments.[187] Subsequently, he stated: "I thought about withdrawing because of the injury, but it is my choice. I really wanted to skate this program in Russia."[188] He received his medal at the victory ceremony while moving on crutches.[189] Hanyu was recommended three weeks of rest for his ankle to recover.

On November 29, 2018, the Japanese Skating Federation announced that Hanyu would withdraw from the Grand Prix Final due to the injuries to ligaments and tendons in his right leg, for which he will require around one month of rehabilitation.[190][191] His withdrawal from the Japan Figure Skating Championships was announced two weeks later.[192]

Despite missing nationals, Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, based on his track record. The competition was destined to be his comeback event after the injury he sustained in November.[193]

Ahead of the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships, Hanyu said that his injured ankle hadn't yet fully recovered, but insisted that he was "100% ready" for the competition.[194] He came in third after the short program with a score of 94.87 due to invalidating one of his elements.[195] He placed second in the free skate with a score of 206.10 after delivering a nearly clean program, which placed him second overall. Both his free skating score and his total score of 300.97 were world records, before being broken again by Nathan Chen, who ended up taking gold in the event.[196] After the event, he stated he was "regretful" about his performance, but assured the result motivated him to continue skating and improve in the next season.[197] He also revealed that similar to his preparations for the Olympics, he relied on painkillers before and during the event to make jumping possible. The expected timing of his recovery is uncertain.[198] Subsequently, the Japanese federation announced he would not be participating in the season's final event, World Team Trophy, due to his injury.[199]

Hanyu opted to retain both of his programs for the new season.[200] Competing at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, Hanyu placed first in both programs to claim the gold medal, despite a fall on his quad Salchow in the short program and a few turnouts on landings in the free skate. Coach Orser praised Hanyu, saying "I have never seen him at this time of the year to be so focused."[201]

Commencing the Grand Prix, Hanyu went to his fourth Skate Canada International, having won the silver medal there on his three previous outings. Hanyu placed first in the short program with a clean skate, twenty points ahead of American Camden Pulkinen. Assessing his performance, Hanyu said it "was not so great, but I felt I did my best today."[202] In the free skate, Hanyu turned out of his opening quad loop, but otherwise landed all jumps cleanly, setting a new personal best and winning the event by almost sixty points.[203] His 59.82-point margin over silver medalist Nam Nguyen was the widest in the history of the ISU Grand Prix series.[204] He won his second Grand Prix, the 2019 NHK Trophy, with a similarly commanding margin.[205][206]

Hanyu went into the Grand Prix Final in Torino as co-favorite for the title alongside Nathan Chen. Hanyu's coach Ghislain Briand was delayed in traveling to the event, resulting in him having no coach present for the competition's first segment. In the short program, Hanyu stepped out of his quad toe loop without executing a combination, and as a result, placed almost thirteen points behind Chen. He said he was "not satisfied" with his performance.[207] In the free skate, Hanyu landed five quad jumps in one program for the first time in his career, including his first quad Lutz since his Olympic season injury, but popped an intended triple Axel-triple Axel sequence. He finished second behind Chen in that segment as well, taking the silver medal overall. The free skate coincided with Hanyu's birthday. Hanyu expressed satisfaction at having landed the quad Lutz, but also "regret" at the second half.[208]

Competing at his first Japanese championships since the 2016–17 season, Hanyu placed first in the short program, 5.01 points ahead of Shoma Uno.[209] Several jump errors in the free skate saw him place third in that segment, behind Uno and Yuma Kagiyama, and win the silver medal overall. It was Hanyu's first loss to Uno.[210]

Heading into the Four Continents Championships in Seoul, Hanyu opted to return to his "Ballade No. 1 in G Minor" and "Seimei" programs from prior seasons.[211] Referencing the 2018 Winter Olympics which were held in Pyeongchang, Hanyu noted that while he wanted to win a gold medal once again in South Korea, he wanted to showcase and focus on his own style of figure skating even more. In the short program, Hanyu broke his own record for the ISU best score with 111.82 points.[212] Hanyu called it "the most perfect performance I've ever done."[213] Despite errors on two of his quad attempts in the free skate, he won that segment as well, taking the gold medal overall with 299.42 points.[214] Hanyu's victory made him the first and only male singles skater to win all of the major ISU championship events at the junior and senior levels, a feat known as the Super Slam, previously only achieved by five other competitors in the other three skating disciplines.[215] He was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[216]

At the ISU Skating Awards in 2020, Hanyu was nominated for Best Costume and Most Valuable Skater for the 2019–2020 season, and proceeded to win the latter.[25]

On August 28, Hanyu announced that he would skip the Grand Prix series, citing the risk of COVID-19 both for himself and for his fans who would gather to support him.[217]

Despite being "conflicted" over whether he should have competed or not as the third wave of the pandemic hit Japan and he had been practicing without his coaching team, Hanyu decided to compete in Japanese championships which doubled as the final qualifier for the upcoming World Championships in Stockholm.[218][219] He placed first in the short program and the free skate with all positive grades of execution on jumping passes, and won his fifth national figure skating title with a total score of 319.36 points.[220][221]

Hanyu has set the world record scores 7 times under the current +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system.

Note: Because of the introduction of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system which replaced the previous +3 / -3 GOE system, ISU has decided that all statistics start from zero from the 2018–19 season onwards. All previous records are now historical.[334]

Hanyu has broken 12 world records scores before the 2018–19 season. From the list of historical absolute scores, the top three historical combined scores, four out of the top five historical short program scores, and three out of the top five historical free program scores were scored by Hanyu.

• First skater to win the Olympic champion title twice (consecutively) in 66 years.[169]

• 
  Hanyu (center) with Patrick Chan (left) and Denis Ten (right) at the 2014 Winter Olympics podium
• 
  Hanyu (center) with Shoma Uno (left) and Javier Fernández (right) at the 2018 Winter Olympics podium

• First male single skater to achieve a Super Slam.
• First skater to win the Grand Prix Final 4 consecutive times.[111]
• First skater in history to successfully land a quadruple loop in competition.[137]
• First skater in history to successfully land a quadruple toe loop-triple Axel sequence in competition.[231]
• First skater to successfully land 3 quadruple jumps in the second half of a free skating program (2017 World Team Trophy).[145]
• Hanyu had been ranked first in the world standings for 5 consecutive seasons.[338][339][340][341][342]