Yuzuru Hanyu's victory at the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France, on Saturday made it five straight years that a Japanese man has won the title at the event.
Daisuke Takahashi began the streak back in 2012, and Hanyu not only kept the run going with his latest triumph, he made more history in the process. This was the 22nd GP Final, and never before had a male or female skater won it four straight times until Hanyu achieved it.
Russian legend Evgeni Plushenko won the GP Final four times, but he did not do it four times in a row. Hanyu, who prevailed with a total score of 293.90, has again established another new standard and an incredible one at that.
The Olympic champion, who turned 22 last week, spotted himself a nice lead with his short program on Thursday to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" that earned him a score of 106.53. That was the third highest short program score in history.
There is an old adage in skating that says, "You can't win an event in the short program, but you sure can lose it." This is so very true.
Hanyu understands this and it is one of the reasons why he owns the top five short program scores of all time.
The plaudits poured in for Hanyu from the experts on his latest accomplishment.
"That was fantastic," said Eurosport announcer Simon Reed after Hanyu's short program.
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