Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu performs in the figure skating exhibition gala during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 20, 2022. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
Figure skating star Yuzuru Hanyu will miss this month’s world championships because an ankle sprain he suffered at the Beijing Olympics has not fully healed, the Japan Skating Federation said Tuesday.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist fell twice in the figure skating final at the 2022 Winter Games in the Chinese capital, where he finished fourth in the men’s individual competition.
He had been due to compete at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in southern France from March 21-27, but Kao Miura will be sent in his place, the JSF said in a statement.
The organization said Hanyu could not skate at the event because “the sprain of his right ankle joint, injured at the Beijing Olympics, hasn’t healed.”
Hanyu, 27, had been chasing a third gold at the Games in February and went for broke with a free skate that included an attempt at a quadruple axel — something no skater has ever landed in competition.
But the Japanese “Ice Prince” tumbled twice, once trying to nail the notoriously difficult jump.
“Honestly, it feels like everything has gone wrong this time around, but I did my best,” he told reporters in Beijing after the competition, in which US star Nathan Chen won gold.
Silver and bronze were taken by Japanese skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno.
Hanyu’s right ankle ligaments have given him trouble for years, having hurt the same ankle just months before the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
