The Japanese are one of the nations most enthusiastic in winning medals in Olympic, even if they are not obtaining them so much everytime. For that reason probably, newspapers in Sunday morningdecorated their front page with the news of two young Japanese winning gold and silver medal in individual figure skating competition in Pyeongchang Olympic. The gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu made the first example for a Japanese Olympian to achieve two consecutive victories. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a congratulation phone call from Tokyo to Pyeongchang praising Hanyu.
After winning a gold medal in Sochi Olympic four years ago, Hanyu had been performed as the top figure skater in the world. It was last November when he disappeared from the public right after he sprained his right ankle. Although he had been making recuperation effort in foreign country, it was a few days before the competition in Pyeongchang when he again appeared to TV footage with bright smile.
That hidden three months made his victory further dramatic. In the short program, Hanyu showed perfect performance without a mistake. In his free performance for four and a half minutes, his right ankle withstood three quadruple jumps. “I realized a victory, victory on myself,” told Hanyu. “I want to say to myself in younger days, when I was thinking to win a gold medal, that ‘Stick to yourself, though everything can happen.’”
The silver medalist Shoma Uno overtook Javier Fernandez from Spain, who had been in the second position after Hanyu in short program. Although he fell down in his quadruple loop at the beginning, Uno made outstanding performance in the free, whose technical point exceeded Hanyu’s. “While I knew I could take the first prize with perfect performance, a mistake in the first jump made me laugh, releasing me from overwhelming strain,” commented Uno.
Two consecutive victories in men’s figure skating was the first achievement in these 66 years. Simultaneous occupation of gold and silver by Japanese athletes was the second example, following gold, silver and bronze winning in normal hill ski jump in Sapporo 1972. TV broadcast people’s voice in Japan who was proud of their country.
Prime Minister Abe made a call from his house to Hanyu in Pyeongchang Saturday evening. By congratulating Hanyu in front of TV camera, Abe performed as if he was a political leader supporting gold medalist. As long as he needs enthusiasm for his political agenda, mainly constitutional amendment, Abe is likely to show himself in the middle of delight in Olympic athletes.
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