The Pure Battlefield, the Youthful Legend
The memory engraved in my heart was merely beginning from one of his skating performances.A glimpse of his pure and warm smiling face aroused my curiosity.Scarcely had Chopin's symphony had sounded, when he was like a prince out of a dreamy world,raising his head,waving his sleeves and gliding gracefully over the ice.It was his delicate performance, elegant style and sincere sentiment that touched and shocked me.His name is Yuzuru Hanyu,a Japanese figure skater.
Yuzuru Hanyu became attached to figure skating at a very young age.At four he accompanied his sister to practice figure skating. While he was kept spinning around the rink,the coach set him straight:"why not try skating if you are so mischievous."Then he put on the ice shoes.The coach sighed:"I've never seen a child so unscared of ice." In the youth group, "I want to be the Olympic champion,"Yuzuru once said,with a childish face but his bright eyes that were full of vision and hope for tomorrow.At that time,his coach saw at a glance that Yuzuru would be a figure skater of the new age.Consequently,his coach ecouraged him:"Be an artist and show yourself on the world stage."Yuzuru Hanyu,who had both jumping ability and artistic expressiveness,was remarkable in the youth group.
After that,the great earthquake came in Japan suddenly.This 16-year-old boy's home is gone,the ice rink is useless,and his hometown is scarred.On the way he came stronger,god seemed to destroy his champion's dream,and he wanted to give up.However,when he stayed in the shelter with his family,the only thing he was thinking was how to survive.Humans are so vulnerable in front of natural disasters.But in the end,Yuzuru managed to harden himself against these feelings of deep sorrow and kept himself chasing his dream.He determined to attend many performances to inspire people in Japan and his hometown to cheer up and rebuild their homes.Meanwhile,he moved to Canada with a persistent belief,worship Orser as a teacher and knocked on the door of his Olympic road.When he had just gone to Canada,he was not yet acclimated to the new place which caused him to lose weight.But he insisted on training every day and he even went to the ice rink late at night to practice.He didn't leave until he finish his aim.I couldn't count how many times he had worn out his skates and how many injuries he had suffered.
Everything comes to one who waits.At the Sochi Winter Olympics,Yuzuru became the youngest Olympic Champion of figure skating in 66 years.In the same year,he was admitted to Waseda University on the entrance examination.He is a versatile talent who combines competition with study all the time.After he became famous,he remained modest and was respectful of every opponent and audience.It is amazing that such a slim boy can be so tenacious.
Was the fate playing tricks on him? In China Cup Competition , because of a collision with another skater during the free skating warm up,he fell down, got injured.Everyonecould see the blood running down his neck even on TV. It was a blood-stained battlefield.He lay down on the ice for a while and then stood up, wiped his blood, tied up his wound, bore the pain from the accident and continued his performance. Though he fell down several times, he finished his performance and won the silver medal along with warm applause from the audience.
After this battlefield, he underwent surgery and recuperated for months,but he's still the champion of the final at the end of the year.From 2015 to 2017, he kept smashing the world record set by himself.At present,his goal is to be the defending champion of the Winter Olympics in Pingchang.However,god tested him again probably.He was injured again, and he was badly hurt."the more I regret, the more I will be rewarded.I will treasure the hardship and happiness up in my memory and I will put warm strength in my arms to fight for the Olympic Games. "he said with his eyes red.
Due to the historical reasons, older generations might have prejudice towards Japan. When I was younger, I didn’t have the chance to get to know the real Japanese culture or have an objective understanding about Japan. Somehow, that left a shadow in my heart.Although I can’t make generalizations about all the Japanese people, and I can’t completely change my opinions about a country just because Yuzuru, at least I can see in the younger generations the spirit of unity, progressive and dynamic and never giving up,which made me change my own prejudice about Japan.
In reality, the world doesn’t have many miracles. It’s just some people can push themselves so hard to achieve their goals.Finally, I want to end my article with what Yuzuru once said after winning the gold medal in Sochi Winter Olympics, "Everyone can only find the answers in himself. From now on, the battle is in my own heart. "
