NEW YORK -- Johnny Weir said Yuzuru Hanyu‘s record-breaking win at NHK Trophy in Japan last weekend was “one of those things that will stay forever.”
The Olympic champion Hanyu posted the highest short program and free skate scores under the decade-old system that replaced the 6.0 scale. His total score of 322.40 points smashed Patrick Chan‘s previous record by 27.13.
Weir, speaking at the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park tree lighting ceremony on Tuesday, ranked Hanyu’s performance with four of his favorite all-time skates.
“It was a moment in time,” Weir said. “I don’t know how long it’ll take for someone to even come close to that score.”
Here are the four performances Weir grouped with Hanyu’s record:
Michelle Kwan‘s short program and free skate at the 1998 U.S. Championships.
Kwan regained her U.S. crown from Tara Lipinski after coming back from a broken toe with skating that reportedly left at least one judge in tears. Seven of nine judges awarded her perfect 6.0s in presentation for the short, and eight of nine did so for the free skate.
Kwan captured the second of her nine U.S. titles and would go on to take Olympic silver behind Lipinski in Nagano one month later and then bronze at Salt Lake City 2002.
Yevgeny Plushenko‘s free skate at the 2002 Olympics.
The Russian fell in his Olympic debut in the short program, putting him in fourth going into the free skate. Unable to control his own destiny for a gold medal, Plushenko nonetheless skated brilliantly, landing two quadruple jumps, including a quad-triple-triple combination, stepping out of the landing on the last jump.
He was beaten by only Yagudin in the free skate and earned silver behind the countryman with whom he formerly shared a coach. Plushenko was only 19 and embarking on a career that would include Olympic medals at the next three Winter Games.
Irina Slutskaya‘s short program and free skate at the 2000 World Championships and free skate at the 2005 World Championships.
Slutskaya almost gave the sport up after failing to make the Russian team for the 1999 World Championships, one year after taking Worlds silver. She came back strong for 1999-2000, however, sweeping the Russian Championship, Russian Grand Prix, Grand Prix Final and European Championship. She took silver behind an exquisite Kwan at Worlds in Nice, France.
In 2004-05, Slutskaya came back from a lengthy hospital stay due to a heart condition to win a World title at home in Moscow. The previous two years, she had pulled out before the 2003 Worlds due to her mother falling ill and then finished ninth at the 2004 Worlds before the hospitalization.
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*Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Yevgeny Plushenko won gold medals at the last three Olympics. He won silver in 2010.