Japanese officials criticized for letting injured figure skater compete

Concussions aren’t normally a concern in figure skating. Then again, figure skating isn’t normally a contact sport.

So it comes as a surprise that Japanese sports officials are facing questions about their decision to allow Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu back on the ice after a serious collision during warm-ups at the Cup of China.

“After returning home yesterday, we conducted a thorough examination to go to the hospital,” Hanyu said in a statement on Monday, adding an apology “for the worry and inconvenience to everyone.”

Hanyu was gliding backward at high speed on Saturday when he ran into another skater and fell hard. He lay on the ice for several moments, clutching his bloodied chin, before medical workers scurried to him.

The Japanese champion subsequently competed with his head wrapped in a bandage and appeared shaky on the way to a second-place finish. Some Japanese athletes wondered if the national skating federation should have pulled him out of the competition.

“He could have had a concussion,” Noriko Mizoguchi, an Olympic medalist in judo, told AFP. “Plus there is always [a] risk of brain trauma from cases of second impact.”

Hanyu announced through the Japan Skating Federation that he will need two to three weeks to recover from a bruised head and chin.