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Yuzuru Hanyu has ‘no intention of retiring,’ has sights set on unfathomable quad Axel

Fresh off his repeat gold medal in the men’s singles competition, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu has his sights set on an even loftier goal. The two-time champion made it clear he’s not interested in retiring, and the fuel that’s driving him forward is a nearly impossible goal.

“I have achieved what I set out to do and I have no intention of retiring,” he said, according to Kyodo News. “Whenever I think about whether I would like to do something else outside skating, it is skating that I always come back to.

“I think I have devoted myself to skating from the bottom of my heart, and I want to do that for a little longer. I want to try a quadruple Axel and that is my only motivation right now.”

This jump — it would require four-and-a-half rotations — has never before been landed in a competition.

However, Hanyu’s coach two-time Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser, said he’s already been trying it in practice, much to his chagrin. In an interview with InsideSkating.net he was asked about it and said, “Oh God, don’t even… [Brian does a ‘face-palm’ gesture, then laughs]. I don’t want him to get hurt!” before saying he had already seen him try it.

American Vincent Zhou recently became the first skater to ever land a quad lutz in a competition. Clearly, Hanyu is itching to one-up his peer. Whether he can pull it off remains to be seen, but we’d love to see him try.

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