Man of the moment Yuzuru Hanyu made his triumphant return to his hometown of Sendai over the weekend to a very enthusiastic welcome.

Possibly too enthusiastic. Snapping a photo of the Olympic champion figure skater during his victory parade proved to be a challenge. The crowd was so big and there were so many obstacles in the way that fans didn’t get the commemorative photo they’d hoped to take, but they did get something a bit more humorous.

A collection of the best Yuzuru Hanyu photo fails surfaced on Twitter Moments. Various trees, flags, hands and rails obscured the Olympic ice skater in a comic demonstration of just how excited the people of Sendai were to welcome him home.

But these photo fails didn't dampen spirits at all as it seems everyone was just happy for the chance to see the hometown hero. Perhaps rather than a ton of perfectly timed shots from his legions of fans, the difficulty in obtaining a good shot is just a testament to gold medalist Hanyu’s popularity.