Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu won the country’s first gold medal in men’s ice skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Dennis Tan of Kazakhstan won the bronze, which is the country’s first ever medal in men’s figure skating.
Hanyu said he was “not happy with my program” and did not think about whether he had won the gold when he finished.
“No, I was so tired,” he said. “I was so tired. I was just so tired.”
Then Orser came up and gave him a pat on the back. Hanyu broke into a big smile.
“Oh my,” he told his coach.
Orser told him, “A win is a win is a win. I know you’re tired. Are you happy?”
“I’m happy,” he said.
Added Orser: “It’s gonna sink in. This is history, all right. … Enjoy.”
No one performed a clean skate, including Hanyu. He fell twice, but with his outstanding score in the short program and Canada’s Patrick Chan’s fatal mistakes he soared into first place.
Chan was Canada’s hope to finally gold medal in figure skating. However, he barely stayed on his skates when he attempted a triple axel and he completely messed up a very easy double axel. The last fall sealed his silver and Hanyu’s gold.
The favorite was Russia’s Evegeni Plushenko, but he withdrew right when his name was announced on Thursday before the short program due to injury. The 31-year-old decorated star later retired from competitive skating.
American Jason Brown skated last and did very well for his first Olympics. He placed ninth.
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