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Established 1961 13 Sports Wednesday, February 7, 2018 Japan skate king Hanyu ready to rumble at Olympics: Coach Hanyu, strong favourite to win back-to-back Olympic figure skating titles PYEONGCHANG: Japan’s figure skating king Yuzuru the sense of drama before one of the most watched sports Hanyu will be ready to defend his Olympic title in of the Games, which open on Friday. Pyeongchang, his coach said yesterday, after an ankle American Nathan Chen, Spain’s Javier Fernandez and injury threatened to scuttle his double dream. The 23- fellow Japanese Shoma Uno-runner-up to Hanyu at the year-old, widely considered the greatest skater ever, dam- 2017 world championships-are among those lurking. aged ankle ligaments attempting a quadruple lutz in train- China’s Jin Boyang could also provide a threat after his ing in November and has been training in secrecy since. recent Four Continents gold. But coach Brian Orser prom- Doubts linger over how com- ised Hanyu would be fit in time petitive Hanyu will be after his for the men’s short programme ill-timed training accident and on February 16 at Gangneung the absence of the Japanese star, Ice Arena. “He is training quite one of the most recognisable well,” the Canadian told We need every athletes of the Games, would be reporters. “In the last few a major blow to organisers. weeks everything has been minute between However, Orser gave the coming together and all of us now and the Japanese superstar’s legions of have been very optimistic. devoted fans a boost by dismiss- “We need every minute competition ing fears he would not be ready between now and the competi- to compete. “He will be 100 per- tion, but I am really impressed cent,” Japan’s Kyodo news quot- with the way he has been able ed him as saying. “I remember in to manage all of this,” added Orser. “Every day he keeps the summer we got back to training in July and saying getting better, but we have goals. We know exactly what then he’s ready for the Olympics. He was ready in August. has got to be worked on and what we have to achieve, and “So we have all that work behind us and it is sort of in we do it.” the bank. Thank goodness for that because now it is all A fit Hanyu would arguably be a strong favourite to coming to fruition. “We are kind of peaking again and it’s become the first man to win back-to-back Olympic figure mainly conditioning right now and getting some run- skating titles since American Dick Button in 1948 and throughs done,” Orser added. “He has done a lot of condi- 1952. But tetchy Japanese skate officials have refused to tioning off the ice so in some ways he is much stronger MOSCOW: File photo taken on October 21, 2017 shows Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu competing during the senior men’s discuss Hanyu’s progress since his injury scare, adding to than ever, but we need the extra time.” — AFP short programme at the ISU Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup in Moscow. — AFP Coaching change rekindles Chan’s skating passion in super-G gold and downhill bronze in Olympics Death Sochi and giant slalom silver in 2010, time for Games said: “You have to compartmentalise things, and it’s tough. “We talk about and denial in it, we know that sport has a lot of GANGNEUNG: Patrick Chan said yesterday that a drastic coaching risks, but we forget our sport is a dan- change weeks ahead of the Pyeongchang Winter Games had helped top flight gerous one. him rekindle his appreciation for figure skating to make the most of his “When you crash, you can hurt third and last Olympics. ski-racing yourself - a knee, an elbow - but this Speaking to reporters after his second practice in South Korea, the (death) is difficult to accept.” Jansrud 27-year-old said his bold decision to return to his native Canada and added: “I’ve tried not to think too hire a new coach with only a few months left in his competitive career PYEONGCHANG: Elite downhill rac- much about it because that bring fears, had already yielded benefits. ers will strap on their skis at the a lot of nerves, I’ll try to keep that “I think it has already helped me,” said Chan, who has said he Pyeongchang Winter Olympics aware away so that I don’t make any mistakes would retire after Pyeongchang. “It’s a big change mid-season. I think of the risks but sometimes in denial myself.” it’s not a very normal way of doing things. But I just had to trust my about the real dangers despite two Luc Alphand, France’s 1997 world gut and I needed a change.” The turning point for Chan came at the deaths in the run-up to the Games. downhill champion and erstwhile Skate Canada grand prix event in October last year, where he finished German teenager Max Burkhart and Dakar Rally driver, confirmed that “the a disappointing fourth. France’s two-time Olympian David word ‘fear’ is taboo in our sport”. “At Skate Canada, at that time I was really uncomfortable and Poisson both died in racing incidents in “However, every skier has periods unhappy,” he said. “I was just unhappy about skating. Period. I did Canada, the first fatalities on the pro- when he’s less physically in form and not like it.” After withdrawing from the grand prix event in Japan in fessional circuit since 2001, casting a when he feels fear,” Alphand said. “It’s November-a move he said was needed to “get organised mental- dark shadow over the sport. up to the skier to manage those peri- ly”-Chan parted ways with Marina Zoueva, with whom he trained “We know we do a risky sport,” ods, it’s up to him to look after himself, in the United States, moved to Vancouver and hired Canadian said Poisson’s teammate Blaise it’s a massive mental task.” coach Ravi Walia. Giezendanner. “You accept wrecking a Chan said he wanted to be mentally happy for the end of his career, knee, you accept sliding into the nets. RISK MANAGEMENT KEY and moving back home has contributed to that. “Not many people Injuries are part of the game. “But the Mental issues to one side, Bernhard have done a change - moving places, changing coaches and then hav- game is not about dying. At no Russi, who won a gold and silver for ing to train and not have as much time as you would like,” Chan said. “I Patrick Chan moment do we downhillers say to our- Switzerland in the Olympic downhills only really had two months of training by that time.” selves ‘this morning, I’ll maybe die’.” in 1972 and 1976, insists there is also The new training regime has been helped along by teaming up with Despite taking an additional silver in Sochi for the team competi- That said, there is an element of the physical side of risk management: different trainers and physiologists to get Chan ready for competition. tion, Chan sat out the next season before a comeback in 2015-16. denial among the elite racers given the that is, ski racers knowing just how far “It has ended up being enough time to be trained to be really comfort- Chan is known for his artistry in an era of ever-increasing quadruple taxing nature of a sport that combines they are willing to push themselves. able and confident,” he said. jumps, a trend he has regarded with caution amid concerns about sheer speed with technical prowess. “99 times out of 100, racers will say skater safety. Dressed in a skin-tight catsuit, back ‘no, I’m not scared. I have respect for IT’S A JOB In the 2017 world championships in Helsinki, Chan landed three support and helmet, begoggled racers the mountain’,” Russi, the designer of A three-time world champion and seasoned Olympian, Chan knows quadruple jumps in his free programme for the first time, but still only shot through course falls, snakes and Olympic downhill courses for the the Olympic drill. “It feels a little more normal,” he said. “I don’t feel as finished fourth, with each of the podium finishers, Japanese duo rolls, on a wide variety of terrain, in International Ski Federation since like, ‘Oh my God, this is the Olympics’. It’s just like another... it’s a job Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno, and China’s Jin Boyang, landing four. parts propelling them 60 metres in the 1980, told AFP. almost. I’m just coming in, doing my plan and I’m focused on my prac- Chan is set to represent Canada in the team event once again, air, only to slam down for icy traverses “Once they stop, they’ll remember tices every single day.” something he said would be “another great moment at the Olympics.” that severely test technical ability and moments when they were scared. But Chan, who finished fifth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, clinched “We have a great chance, we have a great team,” he said. “All I can mastery of well-honed equipment. they’d never admit to that today, they silver behind Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu in Sochi in 2014, where he had think about is how I can contribute my best. I feel confident because Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud, who won have to protect themselves.