Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan performs during the gala exhibition of the ISU World Team Trophy at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka on April 18, 2021 in Osaka, Japan. Photo: VCG

The day before the interview with his first skating coach on November 5, Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-times figure skating Winter Olympic champion was forced to pull out of the NHK Trophy competition with ligament damage to his right ankle, just three months before Beijing 2022, the Japan Skating Federation announced. The injury has worried fans and world media because it might affect his performance in the coming Winter Games.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Hanyu in a statement released by the federation. "I was approaching the NHK Trophy with all my might but was injured the only time I fell and that was the end of that," he said.

Yet Hanyu's very first coach, Mami Yamada, thinks otherwise. "You know players at this level frequently get injured when training, so I trust him very much," Yamada said. She already bought the ticket to Tokyo for Hanyu's performance and now has to replace her best wish for her student with the excitement of the competition on the rink.

Yamada said that Hanyu has been a skater with a "bold heart," leading to his countless injuries since he was a child. "That's what makes him particularly outstanding compared to other children," she added.

Born on December 7, 1994 in Sendai, Japan, Hanyu began his ice career at the age of four, following the steps of his older sister, who was also under the guidance of the novice coach Yamada in 1998.

After 23 years, the 27-year-old Hanyu has become a common face in the first place of the podium in figure skating and his fans expected him to reign another round in 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. 

Coach Yamada still teaches children to skate.

"I started to teach his sister first and then, every time he came to the rink he kept skating around outside," Yamada told Xinhua News Agency, adding that "when he first got onto the ice, he came running, jumped on it and fell down hard but quickly got up and started skating again. He is a natural."

In addition to Hanyu's passion and talent in the ice rink, Yamada recalled that he always had a strong desire to express himself while performing. "He had always been too exaggerating on the ice rink, which is an advantage for him during a figure skating," said Yamada.

Hanyu's distinctive performance, plus his talent and passion for skating, has made him one of the most exciting figures on the ice rink, gathering a huge group of fans worldwide with his high technique.

In 2018, the Japanese skater took the first place with a score of 317.85 in the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, making him the first skater in 66 years to successively win gold in Figure skating Men's Single after his victory in Sochi 2014.

The most recent meeting between Yamada and Hanyu was in 2019 when Hanyu dropped by Yamada's skating class to visit the children she taught at the time.

"I felt like he has become a real grown-up with a sense of responsibility," recalled Yamada, adding that "he talked as he was able to take the title as a world champion when interacting with my students."