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Yuzuru Hanyu eyes when to turn professional

Yuzuru Hanyu

NAGANO, JAPAN - DECEMBER 27: (CHINA OUT, SOUTH KOREA OUT) Yuzuru Hanyu competes in the Men’s Singles Free Program during day two of the 83rd All Japan Figure Skating Championships at the Big Hat on December 27, 2014 in Nagano, Japan. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

The Asahi Shimbun

Yuzuru Hanyu wants to turn to professional figure skating after becoming the first man to repeat as Olympic champion in 66 years, according to Japanese reports.

“I had been thinking about turning professional after Sochi and Pyeongchang,” Hanyu, 20, said at his training base in Toronto, according to Kyodo News. “I want to go out with a win.”

Hanyu won Olympic, World and Grand Prix Final titles in 2014 and fell to silver behind Spain’s Javier Fernandez at this past season’s World Championships.

The last man to win back-to-back Olympic singles titles was American Dick Button in 1948 and 1952.

“It’s been my plan since I was very young to win a gold medal in Sochi and end competitive skating with another [gold medal] at the next Olympics and join the professional ranks,” Hanyu said, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. “I want to perform as a professional skater while I am still at my best. I have a feeling that when I still have the physical strength I should try and make it and perform as a professional.”

Fernandez upsets Hanyu for World title

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