He has broken an extraordinary 18 world scoring records, and was also the first man ever to break the 100-point mark in the short program, the first to gain 200 points in a free skate, and the first to get a combined total of 300.

Quadruple Axel chase

Hanyu has a knack for pushing boundaries – aside from being the first to land the quadruple loop, he made his goal for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games the quadruple Axel.

Featuring four-and-a-half rotations in the air, no one has successfully landed the jump – the next frontier in figure skating jumping.

As far back as in 2019, Hanyu had spoken of learning the jump; he unveiled a first public attempt at the 2021/22 Japanese nationals, although he landed on two feet and the jump was downgraded. He would go on to attempt the jump once more on Olympic ice, seeking a slice of history.

While he under-rotated the attempt and fell, Hanyu told reporters afterwards: "I rotated the Axel as well as I could. I went for it, and it's something I'll cherish forever."

He added after the Games' exhibition gala: "On the quad Axel, I couldn’t have tried it on a more fitting stage and with more support than I could have asked for.

“I gave it everything I have. People say I’m almost there, I’m close but it’s easier said than done. I think I’ve taken my quad Axel as far as it can."

Beijing 2022

All eyes were on Hanyu at Beijing 2022 to see if he could become the first skater since before the Second World War to win three straight Olympic gold medals.

However, Hanyu's quest for a three-peat took a big hit with his very first jump in the short program. To gasps from the crowd, he singled a planned quadruple Salchow – later explaining he hit a hole or rut in the ice. That left him in a disappointing eighth place.

So it was a measure of Hanyu's pure ability that, despite falling on the quad Axel and also on a quad Salchow in the free skate, the Japanese superstar still hauled himself up by four places to finish fourth overall.

"I fell on the Axel, fell on the Salchow but nailed everything in the second half. It's about falling and getting back up again," he said after the skate.

The future

Hanyu hasn't ruled out going to a fourth Games at Milano Cortina 2026.

With a teasing smile, he said at a press conference to review his Beijing Games: "If you ask me whether these were my last Games, I don't know.

"The Olympics is a special place, one of a kind. It's a competition, a challenge, that you want to take on even if you're hurt.

"There's no other place like that for a figure skater. There is a part of me that does want to skate here again."