Yuzuru Hanyu, the celebrated figure skater from Japan who clinched an Olympic gold medal, revealed his marriage in a late Friday announcement.
This news garnered congratulatory messages from his devoted fanbase, although a tinge of melancholy was palpable among some, as the charismatic 28-year-old is no longer romantically attainable.
While declaring his newfound marital status on X, the social media messaging platform previously known as Twitter, Hanyu chose not to disclose the identity of his partner.
“Thanks (to everyone) for supporting me always … I’ve decided to get married this time,” he said in the post.
“As I’ve lived with skating for 24 years, I’ve thought about various things particularly in the past several years over the fast-changing world including COVID-19 and natural disasters,” he added.
The skater’s hometown of Sendai suffered extensive damage from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s northeast coast in 2011.
Yuzuru Hanyu, who won Olympic gold medals in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games, could not be reached immediately for direct comment.
There was a clear sense of loss in the reaction among many fans in and outside Japan, as “Hanyu loss” became a fast trending hashtag on social media.
“I’m taking Monday off due to ‘Hanyu loss’,” read on post on X, while another predicted many more fans would do the same.
On China’s Weibo messaging app, another fan wrote “the world has become empty.”
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