Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu stepping away from competitive skating

By KOJI UEDA
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu says he is stepping away from competitive figure skating. He left it unclear whether he would ever return to the sport. Hanyu won back-to-back gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Games and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. But he finished fourth in Beijing five months ago and had been noncommittal since about his future. He is also a two-time world champion. He failed in Beijing to become the first to land a quad axel in competition. Hanyu has been the world’s most watched skater for a decade. He was the first Asian man to win gold in Olympic figure skating.