Figure skating champ Hanyu skips team event

TOKYO: Japan's "Ice Prince" Yuzuru Hanyu has recovered from an ankle injury but will miss the Winter Olympics team competition, focusing solely on defending his singles title, news reports said Saturday.
The 23-year-old Olympic champion damaged ankle ligaments attempting a quadruple lutz in training in November. He resumed training in Toronto in early January and is now ready to compete in the Games after making a smooth recovery, the Sankei Shimbun said.
But in order to avoid added strain on his ankle, he plans to skip the team event starting on Friday and instead focus on the men's singles on Feb 16 and 17, the newspaper said.
This means he will make his first competitive appearance on ice since his November injury in the Olympic short programme after he pulled out of international competitions and Japan's national championships.
Immediate comments from the Japan Skating Federation were not available.
American Nathan Chen, Spain's Javier Fernandez and fellow Japanese Shoma Uno — runner-up to Hanyu at the 2017 world championships — are among those lurking, while China's Jin Boyang could provide a threat after his Four Continents gold last weekend.
Hanyu, who was named in Japan's Olympic squad in spite of his injury, has thrown a blanket over his preparations, and a virtual media blackout has been in place since.
A fit Hanyu would be a strong favourite to become the first man to win back-to-back Olympic titles since American Dick Button in 1948 and 1952.
He became the first Japanese man to win Olympic figure skating gold in Sochi in 2014. — AFP