Men’s: Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan
Yuzuru Hanyu obtained gold in Sochi in history-making trends, getting the very first men’s skater to score over 100 factors during the small plan, initial Japanese man to victory Olympic gold in men’s room skating, and (at 19 years old) the youngest men’s Olympic champ in nearly 60 decades. Hanyu returned home to a parade of apparently near to 100,000 visitors, but wasn’t content to sit back and take pleasure in the ruins of his Olympic success. Simply four weeks afterwards, the guy competed within 2014 industry Championships and said gold.
Hanyu’s post-Olympic period have off to a rough begin at 1st big Prix event, the 2014 Cup of China. Into the warm-up before the no-cost system, Hanyu around collided with another skater. Determined to contend in any event, Hanyu fell 5 times through the program. He had been in a position to recover when it comes down to fantastic Prix Final to earn a personal-best rating when you look at the no-cost skate and declare silver by over 34 guidelines behind the gold medalist, Spain’s Javier Fernandez. Fernandez concluded the growing season over the top, however, taking the silver medal in the 2015 community titles while Hanyu got silver.
Hanyu and Fernandez, exactly who teach together in Toronto, Canada under two-time Olympic sterling silver medalist Brian Orser, both recurring their own brands the following month. Hanyu claimed silver over Fernandez within 2015 fantastic Prix last with world-record ratings for their small program, free of charge skate and overall rating. But Hanyu got far from his better during the 2016 community Championships, generating multiple failure in the free skate while Fernandez was near-perfect. Fernandez claimed an extra world championships concept, making Hanyu in 2nd location.
Hanyu male looking for female experienced an innovative new opponent while in the 2016-17 period: American kid Nathan Chen, which surprised the whole world together with toolbox of high-scoring quadruple leaps. At their own basic showdown, the 2016 large Prix Final, Chen met with the greater get during the cost-free skate but Hanyu’s lead after the short system secured him a fourth straight victory at that prestigious celebration. They encountered down once more during the 2017 Four Continents Championships, and Chen’s seven full quad jumps-two within the small system and five into the complimentary skate-earned him the silver medal, while Hanyu gotten gold.
It all stumbled on a head in the 2017 World Championships, with Chen, Hanyu and Fernandez all dueling your concept. Hanyu won their 2nd globe subject, while expensive problems relegated Chen to a sixth put finish in the globes introduction. Fernandez done next, behind Japan’s Shoma Uno (gold) and Asia’s Boyang Jin (bronze).
Hanyu has several globe reports: the short regimen get (ready at the big Prix last), the complimentary skate score (set at 2017 Worlds) and also the record for highest previously as a whole rating, things, ready during the large Prix last.
Ladies: Adelina Sotnikova, Russia
17-year-old Sotnikova upset the females’ field when she outscored 2010 Olympic champion Yuna Kim, the favorite to returning, your silver medal in Sochi. She ended up being initial Russian lady to win an Olympic concept in singles find skating.
Conflict around Sotnikova’s triumph however remains, however. At the time, most wondered if the evaluator got obtained the woman fairly-one girl from the Olympic judging panel is the spouse of this director of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, and another had been involved with a score-fixing scandal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Followers of Kim established an internet petition demanding a study, and it easily gained significantly more than two million signatures. Nevertheless the worldwide Skating Union dropped to take any actions.
Almost 36 months after the opposition, Sotnikova’s profit had been labeled as into concern once again by McLaren report. This investigation by the business Anti-Doping agencies intricate extensive doping among Russian athletes and a classy cover-up procedure to ensure they weren’t caught. It absolutely was reported that the container of one of Sotnikova’s urine samples had been tampered with, and she’s being examined as a result.