(From AFP)
Barcelona — Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu claimed an unprecedented third straight men’s title in record style, as 16-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva gave Russia a second gold on the final day of the ISU Grand Prix Final in Barcelona.
Olympic champion Hanyu was in a class of his own, following his world record 110.95 mark in the men’s short programme Thursday by obliterating his own world marks in both the free skate 219.48 and overall total 330.43.
“I had an almost perfect performance today,” admitted the 21-year-old after winning by a massive 37.48-point margin on world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain, who had to settle for silver like last year.
Japanese teenager Shomo Uno took bronze in the elite six-skater final.
Hanyu had become the first skater to break the 200-point mark in the free skate and the mythical 300-point overall just over two weeks ago in the NHK Trophy.
Taking to the ice last he produced a spell-binding performance to the Japanese movie soundtrack ‘Seimei’ by Shigeru Umebayashi, nailing three quadruple jumps, including one in combination, and also six clean triples — two of them Axels. Read more