Japanese figure skating icon Yuzuru Hanyu retires from competition

By Jessie Yeung, Emiko Jozuka and Junko Ogura, CNN

Updated 0925 GMT (1725 HKT) July 19, 2022

Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu competes at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 10.

Tokyo (CNN)Japanese all-time great figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu announced his retirement from competition on Tuesday, marking the end of a stellar career that included breaking more than a dozen world records and winning two Olympic gold medals.

The 27-year-old, dressed in a suit and tie at a news conference in Tokyo, said that while he was stepping back from competition, he would continue his career as a professional athlete.He added he would keep striving to achieve the fabled quadruple axel — which has never been completed in competition — following his unsuccessful attempt at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.Hanyu, a two-time world champion and winner of four Grand Prix Finals, is known to his worldwide fan base — including a massive following in China — as the «Ice Prince.»His supporters are known for throwing Winnie the Pooh toys onto the ice after his performances; the skater considers the A.A. Milne character a lucky charm. Read MoreHanyu expressed his «deepest gratitude» to his fans on Tuesday, adding he hoped people would continue supporting him and believing «it's worth watching me skate.»Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu holds a news conference in Tokyo on July 19, 2022.«Please continue to watch me fight,» he said, bowing several times to the cameras and reporters.Many fans flooded to social media to express their support for his decision on Tuesday, thanking him for his hard work and dedication to the sport over the years.Hanyu won his first gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at age 19, becoming the youngest