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Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) attends a press conference on July 19, 2022 in Tokyo (JPN) @GettyImages

Two-time Olympic Champion and Figure Skating super star Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) has retired from competing. The 27-year-old announced at a press conference today in Tokyo (JPN) that while he plans not to compete anymore, he wants to continue to perform in ice shows and to pursue his goal of landing a quadruple Axel.

"I'll no longer be able to be compared with other competitors," he said during the press conference, as Kyodo News reported. "But I'll keep fighting my weaknesses and my past self. In terms of results, I've achieved everything I could achieve. I stopped wanting to be evaluated."

 Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) reacts to the crowd during the 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki (FIN) @ISU (International Skating Union)

"I carried on until Beijing in pursuit of the quad Axel, but I feel I can do it not necessarily in competitions," Hanyu said. "I made the decision (to stop competing) after Beijing...I've thought through many things and felt I no longer need to be on the same stage, while also feeling more determined to get better and stronger."

 Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) attempts the quad Axel during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) @GettyImages

Hanyu can not only look back at a very successful competitive career, but also has achieved many firsts in the sport and generated a huge fan following, making the sport popular not only in Japan, but all over the world. His impact into the development of Figure Skating is significant and Skaters and competitors from all over the World look up to him and respect him.

Hanyu, who started skating as a four-year-old following his older sister into the sport, has won all possible titles in Figure Skating starting with the ISU World Junior title (2010). He went on to strike Olympic gold in 2014 and 2018, collected two ISU World titles (2014 and 2017), the ISU Four Continents title (2020) and multiple ISU Grand Prix titles. In his eight appearances at ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2012 to 2021, Hanyu earned a total of seven medals. His last competition was the Olympic Winter Games where the Japanese star finished fourth. He attempted the quadruple Axel, but was not successful.

The Sendai native is the first Japanese man to win Olympic gold in Figure Skating, the first Skater to have performed a clean quadruple loop in competition (in 2016), the first to break the 300 points barrier when he scored 322.40 points at NHK Trophy in 2015. Hanyu set ten times a new highest score in the Short Program, five times in the Free Skating and four times in the total score.

Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) reacts to his score during the 2015 NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Nagano (JPN) @ISU (International Skating Union)

Hanyu produced many memorable programs and record-breaking performances such as “Ballade No. 1 in G minor” by Frédéric Chopin, “Let’s Go Crazy (Purple Rain)”, “Seimei”, “Hope and Legacy” and “Let Me Entertain You”.

The athlete was directly affected by the tsunami disaster in Japan in 2011. He originally trained in Japan, then in Canada for several years before returning to his home country.