Yuzuru Hanyu’s Quad Axel Gamble: Beyond Olympic Gold

Two Olympic gold medals. One jump still out of reach. Yuzuru Hanyu had already won gold at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018. At Beijing 2022, he took on the quadruple Axel: four and a half rotations, landing on one blade. He fell on the attempt and finished fourth overall. But that result tells only part of his story. This short documentary explores the ambition, artistry, and unfinished challenge behind one of figure skating’s most extraordinary careers. After reaching the top, would you protect your legacy—or chase the challenge that still scares you? Tell us below. Subscribe to ChampionVerse for the stories behind extraordinary athletes. Explore more: https://ChampionVerse.com Visuals include archival 2017 Four Continents practice footage and competition photos; the practice clips are not footage of the Beijing quad Axel attempt. #YuzuruHanyu #FigureSkating #QuadAxel MEDIA CREDITS Practice footage: 北の蛍 — 19-02-2017 4CC 6 minutes practice. Trimmed, cropped, brightened; original audio removed. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photos: resized, panned/zoomed and overlaid with text. 2011 Cup of China - Yuzuru Hanyu FS — David W. Carmichael. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 2017 World Championships - Yuzuru Hanyu EX and FS (2) — Phantom Kabocha. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 2018 Winter Olympics - Yuzuru Hanyu SP — David W. Carmichael. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Photo adaptations retain their source licenses, including CC BY-SA 3.0 where applicable. No endorsement by the athlete, photographers or event organizers is implied. Thumbnail: AI-assisted composite adapted from the above 2018 Winter Olympics photograph by David W. Carmichael. Background, crop, lighting and text modified. Thumbnail adaptation: CC BY-SA 3.0. Music: original locally synthesized instrumental.