2012-13 season: Adjusting and Improving
Yuzuru's 2012-2013 competitive season came with some big adjustments. For most skaters, after moving coaches (especially so far away and so different from the previous coach), it takes at least one season for them to get back in peak shape. This wasn't by any means a bad season for Hanyu, but the move from Nanami Abe to Brian Orser did come just in time. We'll discuss that later.
Yuzu skated his short program this season to Gary Moore's "Parisienne Walkways," an electric guitar piece with a lot of sass, choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle. Although he had never skated a competitive program to something like this (something much less classical and traditional), it fit him perfectly. He debuted this short program for the 2012-13 season at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, where he fell on his 4T, did a 3A that got dangerously close to the boards (it was nervewracking to watch), and completed a 3Lz+2T combination that was meant to be a 3Lz+3T combination. For the first time with his new coach, Yuzu sat in the kiss & cry after his performance to await his score: 75.57 points.
For his free program this season, Yuzu skated to Cocciante's "Notre-Dame de Paris." When he debuted it at Finlandia, he landed two quad jumps in his free program for the first time: the quad toe loop and the quad Salchow. He didn't fall once, but a couple of his jumps afterward were a little wobbly; his 3F once again got an edge call. He seemed to run out of steam pretty quick, which is common for Hanyu at the beginning of the season. He collapsed to the floor after his program in an attempt to catch his breath before getting up to leave the ice and receive his score. He earned 172.56 points for the free program for a combined score of 248.13; overall, a really good start to the season.
There's a visible and unquestionable improvement in his spins this season. There's an even more unquestionable improvement in the quality of the choreography to his programs; they're more intricate, more in-character, and more of Yuzu's talent and personality shine through them. This move was the best choice Yuzuru could have made for himself.
At his first Grand Prix Assignment, 2012 Skate America, Yuzu completed a perfectly clean 4T, a beautiful 3A, and a clean 3Lz+3T combination with great height and no hesitation in between. He was energized, and that reflected in this speed of his skating and the character of the program; his spins were amazing, and his step sequence was a lot of fun. A commentator from CBC, discussing the steps in and out of his triple Axel, said "I would like to see people do that on a single Axel, let alone a triple!" The program was amazing. Yuzuru sat down with his coach to receive his score, and it was 95.07: 13 points higher than his previous personal best, 20 points higher than his season's best, and a new world record. Watch this record-breaking short program below.
Unfortunately, his free skate didn't go as well as his short program. He fell on both of his quads at the beginning, but then landed two clean 3As (one of which was in combination), and popped his 3Lz into a 2Lz with a wacky sort of two-footed landing, stopping the rotation abruptly. He landed two more clean triple jumps, but then fell on his last triple, the 3F. After his fall, he didn't complete his choreographic sequence and received 0 points for that element. He received 148.67 points in the free skating, but his world record short program helped him to maintain a second place finish overall at Skate America.
At his second Grand Prix assignment, the 2012 NHK Trophy, Yuzuru completed another completely clean short program and broke his own world record, scoring 95.32 points. Some highlights from this program are shown below.
2013 Worlds - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program
Yuzu skated his short program this season to Gary Moore's "Parisienne Walkways," an electric guitar piece with a lot of sass, choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle. Although he had never skated a competitive program to something like this (something much less classical and traditional), it fit him perfectly. He debuted this short program for the 2012-13 season at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, where he fell on his 4T, did a 3A that got dangerously close to the boards (it was nervewracking to watch), and completed a 3Lz+2T combination that was meant to be a 3Lz+3T combination. For the first time with his new coach, Yuzu sat in the kiss & cry after his performance to await his score: 75.57 points.
For his free program this season, Yuzu skated to Cocciante's "Notre-Dame de Paris." When he debuted it at Finlandia, he landed two quad jumps in his free program for the first time: the quad toe loop and the quad Salchow. He didn't fall once, but a couple of his jumps afterward were a little wobbly; his 3F once again got an edge call. He seemed to run out of steam pretty quick, which is common for Hanyu at the beginning of the season. He collapsed to the floor after his program in an attempt to catch his breath before getting up to leave the ice and receive his score. He earned 172.56 points for the free program for a combined score of 248.13; overall, a really good start to the season.
Yuzu catching his breath after the free skate.
There's a visible and unquestionable improvement in his spins this season. There's an even more unquestionable improvement in the quality of the choreography to his programs; they're more intricate, more in-character, and more of Yuzu's talent and personality shine through them. This move was the best choice Yuzuru could have made for himself.
At his first Grand Prix Assignment, 2012 Skate America, Yuzu completed a perfectly clean 4T, a beautiful 3A, and a clean 3Lz+3T combination with great height and no hesitation in between. He was energized, and that reflected in this speed of his skating and the character of the program; his spins were amazing, and his step sequence was a lot of fun. A commentator from CBC, discussing the steps in and out of his triple Axel, said "I would like to see people do that on a single Axel, let alone a triple!" The program was amazing. Yuzuru sat down with his coach to receive his score, and it was 95.07: 13 points higher than his previous personal best, 20 points higher than his season's best, and a new world record. Watch this record-breaking short program below.
2012 Skate America - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program
Unfortunately, his free skate didn't go as well as his short program. He fell on both of his quads at the beginning, but then landed two clean 3As (one of which was in combination), and popped his 3Lz into a 2Lz with a wacky sort of two-footed landing, stopping the rotation abruptly. He landed two more clean triple jumps, but then fell on his last triple, the 3F. After his fall, he didn't complete his choreographic sequence and received 0 points for that element. He received 148.67 points in the free skating, but his world record short program helped him to maintain a second place finish overall at Skate America.
At his second Grand Prix assignment, the 2012 NHK Trophy, Yuzuru completed another completely clean short program and broke his own world record, scoring 95.32 points. Some highlights from this program are shown below.
Quad Toe Loop
Iconic Lunge Choreo
His free skate wasn't completely clean, but for an emotional return to competition in his hometown, it was absolutely a success. He completed a clean 4T, turned out on his 4A, landed two great 3As, had two more successful jumping passes, and fell on one 3Lz. During his sit-spin, though, he couldn't maintain enough speed throughout and ended up falling. A cute moment occurred when the camera zoomed in just in time to catch Yuzu laughing at himself for the mistake. He finished the program happy despite his falls, glad to have competed good programs in Sendai. He received 165.71 points for the free skating for a combined total of 261.03 points, and won the gold medal for this event. With this gold medal, he also qualified for the Grand Prix Final in December.
At the Grand Prix Final, Yuzu completed a 4T and a 3A, but fell on the second half of his combination. He scored 87.18 points and ended up 3rd after the short program. During his free skate, though, his only mistake was that he got an edge call on his 3F. He scored 177.12 points--just 0.01 points more than Daisuke Takahashi's free skate--and ended up in 2nd place overall behind Daisuke Takahashi and above Patrick Chan, medaling for the first time at the GPF.
At the 2012 Japan Championships, Yuzuru placed first in the short program but second in the free skating, both with quite clean programs (just a turnout on the 4S and an edge call on the 3F in his free skating). Due to his score in the short program, he ended up winning his first national title. He won over Daisuke Takahashi, a long-time Japanese favorite, and was unfortunately not greeted too warmly by fans with his victory; he was nearly in tears during the victory ceremony after the competition, with a largely silent audience. Here is the link to watch this victory ceremony.
Because of his placement in the Japanese nationals, Yuzuru was selected to compete at the 2013 World Championships; he decided once again to withdraw from the Four Continents championships, as many skaters often do.
2013 Worlds - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program
During his short program at the World Championships (above), he fell hard on his 4T and slid into the boards, taking a little bit longer than usual to recover from the fall and keep going. His 3A was perfectly clean, though, coming straight out of steps and a back-counter. Unfortunately, he invalidated his last jumping pass by not completing a combination, his 3Lz too far forward to be able to put a jump after it. He scored 75.94 points and was in 9th place after the short program.
2013 Worlds - Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate
During his free skate, he did make somewhat of a comeback after his short program. He never fell, although most of his jumps did have minor errors--a step-out on the 4S, an edge call and a little too forward on the 3F, a tight landing on the 3T of his 3A+3T combination, a break at the waist after the 3A in his 3A+2T. It was a relatively clean program, but his GOEs were a bit smaller than usual due to these minor mistakes. He was really happy after the free skate, though, and so was his coach; he put up a great fight. Overall, he earned 169.05 points for his free skate, putting him in fourth place at the end of his second World Championships, right behind his training mate Javier Fernandez.
That closes out this season for Yuzuru. He may not have medaled at the World Championships like he did last year, but he did medal at the Grand Prix Final (unlike last year), a competition that had many of the same competitors. He also earned his first national title. It was a successful season for Yuzuru overall, one that leaves him very near the top of the World standings right before the 2014 Olympics next year.
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