Hanae Yokoya- what happened to her

[butyrskafanatic]

I thought she showed a lot of promise in the 95-96 season. She was 2nd in two major grand prix events- Skate Canada to Michelle Kwan, NHK to Lu Chen, and beat numerous big names in both. She was 5th at the Grand Prix final, but only 10th at worlds which was dissapointing to me since I figured with her season she was a contender for a medal.

Then the 96-97 season she seemed to all but dissapear, and she was then beaten out for the lone spot on the 98 Olympic team by a baby/not yet good Arakawa. I think she retired then.

Here is one of her best performances, landing 7 triples at 95 NHK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbd3Wc0KMFY

and here is her excellent performance at the 95 worlds which probably places her in the top 5 or 6 instead of 10th if she had not botched the short program:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnhGu1UjS58

 

[coppertop1]

I think she was injured in 96-97. She plummeted down to 23rd at the 1997 Worlds. The entire Japanese women were weak during that time, a healthy Yokoya could be in the top ten.