User:Henni147/sandbox/Figure skating legacy of Yuzuru Hanyu

Skating philosophy and technique
Hanyu is regarded by analysts as an accomplished skater known for his high-level technical elements as well as mature and versatile artistry. His performance is often characterized as "the perfect combination of skills, strength and elegance", tending to "[blur] rigid gender lines". According to four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko, Hanyu had a "decided edge over other skaters in the completeness of his performance—spins, skating skills, transitions between jumps and musical interpretation". Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel described him as "the most complete athlete in figure skating, probably ever."

Figure skaters Hanyu looked up to while growing up are Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir. With his competitive programs for the 2018–19 season, he paid homage to the two skaters by skating to "Otoñal" by Raúl di Blasio as well as "Art on Ice" and "Magic Stradivarius" by Edvin Marton, which had been used by Weir and Plushenko, respectively, in their programs. At the press conference of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Hanyu also mentioned Stephane Lambiel, Javier Fernández, and Dick Button as the skaters who had influenced him as a skater.

Skating skills
Hanyu is known for his ability to generate skating speed "out of nowhere" and cover long distances with only a few strokes. At the 2021–22 Japan Championships, he managed to perform a clean short program without using consecutive crossovers and reduce the number of basic skating movements to a minimum. This is a feat that has long been considered near impossible, as stated by former competitive skater John Misha Petkevich in his book Figure Skating: Championship Techniques from 1989: "Without a doubt, crossovers are the staple of every skater. Not only are they used to negotiate corners, but they are also used to pick up speed. Skating without crossovers would be virtually unthinkable." The ability to accelerate with a few strokes allows Hanyu to execute his jumps from a variety of difficult entries. Notable are the backward counter turn, twizzle, and spread eagle into his signature triple Axel jump.

Axel and other jumps
Hanyu is known for his strong vaulting technique with minimal pre-rotation on the ice at the take-off, achieving trajectories of impressive size. With a height of 70 centimeters and covering a distance of 3.62 meters, his triple Axel was the largest measured jump in the men's short program at the 2019 World Championships. In 2018, Hanyu's triple Axel from the 2018 Winter Olympics was used as a demonstration example by the ISU for the GOE judging criteria "very good height and very good length" as well as "steps before the jump, unexpected or creative entry". Despite the complex preceding steps and big trajectory, he manages to land his jumps smoothly and increase his skating speed from take-off to landing. With the toe loop, Salchow, loop, and Lutz, Hanyu has successfully executed four different types of quadruple jumps in the course of his competitive career. He stated his preference for edge jumps, and notably featured all three types in his short program of the 2016–17 season.

Spins and signature moves
Hanyu is able to execute the layback Biellmann and doughnut camel spin, which are more commonly seen in women's singles and known for their difficulty among male skaters due to the high flexibility required in spine, hips, and shoulders. Other signature moves include the layback Ina Bauer, hydroblading, and the side lunge. Overall, Hanyu's technical elements stand out for their high quality of execution, having received a total of 29 maximum scores in international competition, covering all four types of required elements in the men's singles discipline: jumps, spins, steps, and choreographic sequences. Beyond that, his elements are noted for their seamless embedding into the choreography and his movements for their precise timing with the music, the latter being awarded a perfect 10.00 in the interpretation component at the 2021–22 Japan Championships.

Music and choreography
Hanyu's programs cover a variety of different music genres, including classical pieces, modern pop rock, musicals, and traditional Japanese music. He notably portrayed the historical Japanese figures Abe no Seimei and Uesugi Kenshin in his free skate programs at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. He also dedicated various exhibition programs to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and performed them as live music collaborations at shows like Fantasy on Ice among others. Hanyu is known to be involved in all aspects of his programs, from the music selection and editing process to the costume design and choreography. As his choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne stated, "He knows what costume he wants. He knows what jump order he wants. He makes a lot of the decisions on his own. You can't say 'no' to that ever. You know, with music especially, because he is going to skate with conviction."

Approach to competitive skating
Hanyu is regarded as part of the vanguard of the "quad revolution" in men's figure skating. He was the first skater to land a quadruple loop, a quad toe loop-triple Axel sequence as well as a quad toe loop-Euler-triple flip combination. He was also the first to land three quad jumps in the second half of the free skate and among the pioneers to approach the quadruple Axel. According to him, a clean and seamless execution of the jumps is essential for a good figure skating performance. However, he repeatedly stressed the importance of well-rounded programs, including advanced transitions and intricate footwork as well as the precise interpretation of the music. Regarding the ongoing debate about the relation between technique and artistry in figure skating, he noted: "That so-called balance between [technical] difficulty and artistry, to me that doesn't actually exist. Artistry is founded upon absolute technical prowess, that's what I think." Towards the end of his competitive career, Hanyu’s and the ISU’s philosophy of skating have continuously diverged. This included the abolition of mandatory steps before the solo jump in the short program in 2018, the proposal to replace the short and free skate program by a "technical" and "artistic" program in 2020, and the removal of transitions and interpretation as separate program components in 2022. While feeling of having evolved in various aspects of his skating compared to his record-breaking performances in 2015, his scores had become lower, making him wonder if he was "no longer needed". At his transition from competitive to professional skating, he remarked that he "stopped wanting to be evaluated", and stressed his intention to keep pursuing his "ideal" skating.