Yuzuru Hanyu feels the pressure and happiness of competing with rivals. (3ページ目)

That was exactly how Hanyu felt too.

"I couldn't adjust my jumps in my final training, which left me feeling uneasy," he said after the performance. "I also realized the performances of Patrick (Chan) and (Shoma) Uno must have been good on account of the huge cheers from the fans. On top of that, Javier (Fernández) scored more than 200 points, so I felt anxious. As a result of that, I pushed myself and was training a lot before the NHK trophy and I think that made a difference. During the performance, my anxiety gradually diminished, but I only felt relieved once I jumped a quadruple toe loop in the early stage. That is the only clear memory I have of the performance."

Hanyu recalled that during the free skate he was "on the edge". At the NHK trophy, he earned the full three Grade of Execution (GOE) points for a triple Axel + double toe loop, but this time he managed to get the same GOE score for a quadruple Salchow and a quadruple toe loop as well, accruing technical points of 120.92. Furthermore, for the 23 items of the Program Component Scores (PCS), nine judges gave him the full 10 points, making 98.56 points. As a result, Hanyu earned a record 219.48 points which left him with a standout total of 330.43.

"Along the way, many people thought about my pace and peaking," Hanyu said. "Of course, I consider them myself in order to peak for the free skate. Although my training was not good, I was confident because I planned my practice. I think I could perform how I trained."