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Russia’s Plushenko praises Hanyu as ‘biggest star in history of figure skating’

Earlier, Japan’s two-time Olympic Champion in figure skating Yuzuru Hanyu announced a decision to wrap up his sports career

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. /TASS/. Legendary Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu will always be ‘the biggest star in the history of figure skating,’ Russia’s two-time Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko stated on Tuesday on his account in Instagram (outlawed in Russia, as it is owned by Meta, deemed extremist in Russia).

Japan’s two-time Olympic Champion in figure skating Yuzuru Hanyu announced earlier on Tuesday a decision to wrap up his sports career.

"Today, I learned that my good friend, outstanding figure skater, the biggest star in the history of figure skating Yuzuru Hanyu announced his retirement," Plushenko wrote. "I appreciate everything he has done for figure skating.

"I would like to wish him all the best in his professional career, and I hope he makes people all over the world happy with his performances on the show. Good luck in the future, my friend Yuzuru-san," Russia’s 39-year-old figure skating star added.

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo earlier in the day, Hanyu said: "I'll no longer be able to be compared with other competitors. But I'll keep fighting my weaknesses and my past self."

Hanyu, 27, is the two-time Olympic champion in men’s singles (2014, 2018), two-time world champion (2014, 2017). At the 2016 Autumn Classic International tournament in Montreal, he became the first figure skater in history to execute a quadruple loop. He is also a four-time ISU Grand Prix Final winner and six-time national champion.

Seven years ago in an interview with the Japan Times daily, after his victory in the 2015 ISU Grand Prix Final in Spain’s Barcelona, Hanyu said that Russia’s Plushenko was one of his figure skating idols he looked up to when he was young.

"When I was young I was dreaming to be like Plushenko or kind of like Johnny Weir [three-time US champion] or [Russia’s 2002 Olympic Champion Alexey] Yagudin," Hanyu was quoted as saying at that time.

At the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China’s Beijing, Hanyu finished in 4th place in men’s singles. During the free skate program in Beijing, he attempted to become the first man in figure skating to land a quadruple axel but fell on the ice as he tried to execute a complicated jump and sustained an ankle sprain.

"I made the decision (to stop competing) after Beijing...I've thought through many things and felt I no longer need to be on the same stage, while also feeling more determined to get better and stronger," Hanyu added, addressing the news conference in Tokyo earlier in the day.

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