Yuzuru Hanyu has glided his way into immortality.
The Japanese skater successfully repeated as Olympic men’s figure skating champion, claiming the gold medal Saturday morning in PyeongChang, South Korea, at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He scored 317.85 total points, topping silver medalist and compatriot Shoma Uno, bronze medalist Javier Fernandez of Spain and the rest of the field.
Yuzuru Hanyu earns gold!
He defends his title in men's figure skating one month after returning from injury. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/fmMl0C4Amf pic.twitter.com/8bZglSdgaR
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2018
Hanyu becomes the first man to repeat as Olympic champion since the United States’ Dick Button in 1948 and 1952. Austria’s Karl Schafer previously was a back-to-back gold medalist in 1932 and 1936. Sweden’s Karl Schafer is the only men’s figure skater to win three consecutive Olympic golds, doing so in 1920, 1924 and 1928.
“This is the best day of my skating life,” Hanyu said after the competition, per NBCOlympics.com. “My tears were from my heart. I can find one word and that is happy.”
All three U.S. skaters finished in the top 10, with Adam Rippon coming in 10th, Vincent Zhou taking sixth and Nathan Chen placing fifth after a stirring rally from 17th place after the short program.
