After 2 Olympic golds, Hanyu wants to master quad axel

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu shows off his gold medal he got in the Pyeongchang Olympics while speaking in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, a day after returning home. After winning two Olympic gold medals, Hanyu has set his next realistic dream: Successful quadruple axel at competitions. Hanyu, who won gold in the Pyeongchang Games to become the first man to repeat as Olympic champion in 66 years,said Tuesday that he hoped to achieve the quadruple and half jump that nobody has successfully performed at a competition. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

TOKYO — After winning two Olympic gold medals, Yuzuru Hanyu wants to master a quadruple axel.

Hanyu, who at the Pyeongchang Games became the first man to repeat as Olympic champion in 66 years, told a news conference on Tuesday he hoped to become the first figure skater to accomplish the quadruple and half jump in competition.

Hanyu, usually articulate, struggled with questions at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan, where he was asked to describe how difficult the jump is and to show something of it.

He dropped his head to the podium, and then said the quadruple axel is like jumping rope four times while revolving twice.