Utana Yoshida

Utana Yoshida (吉田 唄菜, Yoshida Utana, born September 6, 2003) is a Japanese ice dancer. With her former skating partner, Shingo Nishiyama, she is a two-time Japanese national junior ice dance champion (2019, 2020) and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion in the team event.

Utana Yoshida
Personal information
Native name吉田 唄菜
Country represented Japan
Born (2003-09-06) September 6, 2003
Kurashiki, Japan
Home townKurashiki
ResidenceToronto, Canada
Height1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Partner'
Former partnerShingo Nishiyama
Takumi Sugiyama
CoachAndrew Hallam
Tracy Wilson
Joey Russell
Rie Arikawa
ChoreographerAaron Lowe
Megan Wing
Romain Haguenauer
Skating clubToronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
Former skating clubOkayama SC
Training locationsToronto
Began skating2009
ISU personal best scores
Combined total149.61
2020 Junior Worlds
Short dance56.43
2019 JGP United States
Free dance99.21
2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Medal record
Figure skating: Ice dance
Representing  Japan
Representing Mixed-NOCs
Winter Youth Olympics
2020 LausanneTeam

Personal life

Utana Yoshida was born on September 6, 2003 in Kurashiki, Japan. She owns a toy poodle named Koko.

Career

Early career

Yoshida began skating in 2009 and previously competed in ladies' singles.[1] She placed seventh at the novice level at the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional in 2014, and thus failed to advance to the 2014–15 Japan Championships.[2] Yoshida switched to ice dance in 2016, partnering with Takumi Sugiyama.[3] Yoshida / Sugiyama were fourth at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships and won the advanced novice gold medal at the 2017 Mentor Toruń Cup. Yoshida / Sugiyama split at the end of the season, and she was partnerless for two seasons.

Yoshida teamed up with Shingo Nishiyama in early 2019 after a tryout arranged by the Japan Skating Federation in fall 2018 and moved to train with him and his coaches at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Canada in February 2019.[4]

2019–2020 season

In their first season as a partnership, Yoshida/Nishiyama placed sixth at both 2019 JGP United States and 2019 JGP Italy. They then won gold at the Western Sectional and advanced to the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, where they again won gold, ahead of Ayumi Takanami / Yoshimitsu Ikeda. As a result, Yoshida/Nishiyama were assigned to the 2020 World Junior Championships and the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.[5][6] They were invited to skate in the gala at the 2019 NHK Trophy as junior national champion.

At the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, Yoshida / Nishiyama placed sixth in the ice dance event with a new personal best, following a sixth-place rhythm dance and a fourth-place free dance.[7] They were chosen by draw to be part of Team Courage for the mixed-NOC team event, alongside singles' skaters Arlet Levandi of Estonia and Ksenia Sinitsyna of Russia and pairs team Alina Butaeva / Luka Berulava of Georgia.[8] Yoshida/Nishiyama won the free dance portion of the team event, ahead of both the silver and bronze medalists from the individual ice dance event, to help Team Courage win the gold medal.[8]

Yoshida/Nishiyama set a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships.[4] They placed twelfth in Tallinn.[9]

2020–2021 season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Junior Grand Prix, where Yoshida/Nishiyama would have competed, was cancelled. In November, they won their second consecutive junior national title at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships.

Yoshida/Nishiyama announced their split in January 2021.[10]

Programs

With Nishiyama
Yoshida/Nishiyama at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition
2020–2021
[11]
  • Hip Hip Chin Chin
2019–2020
[1]

With Sugiyama
Season Short dance Free dance
2016–2017

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Nishiyama
International: Junior[12]
Event 19–20 20–21
Junior Worlds12th
Youth Olympics6th
JGP Italy6th
JGP United States6th
Bavarian Open6th
National[12]
Japan Junior Champ.1st1st
Team events
Youth Olympics1st T
1st P
T = Team result; P = Personal result.
Medals awarded for team result only.

With Sugiyama
International: Advanced novice[3]
Event 2016–17
Mentor Toruń Cup1st
National[3]
Japan Junior Champ.4th

Detailed results

Junior results
Yoshida / Nishiyama at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Yoshida/Nishiyama at the 2019 JGP United States
2020–21 season
Date Event RD FD Total
November 21–23, 2020 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships 1
58.74		 1
91.06		 1
149.80
2019–20 season
Date Event RD FD Total
March 2–8, 2020 2020 World Junior Championships 13
56.05		 8
93.55		 12
149.61
February 3–9, 2020 2020 Bavarian Open 6
56.36		 6
86.32		 6
142.68
January 10–15, 2020 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Team – 1
99.31		 1T/1P
January 10–15, 2020 2020 Winter Youth Olympics 6
56.38		 4
92.32		 6
148.70
November 15–17, 2019 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships 1
57.49		 1
90.06		 1
147.55
November 1–4, 2019 2019–20 Japan Western Sectional 1
59.06		 1
91.30		 1
150.36
October 2–5, 2019 2019 JGP Italy 7
54.92		 6
85.48		 6
140.40
August 28–31, 2019 2019 JGP United States 6
56.43		 5
83.32		 6
139.75

With Sugiyama
2016–17 season
Date Event Level PD1 PD2 SD FD Total
January 10–15, 2017 2017 Mentor Toruń Cup Adv. novice 2
13.15		 2
13.37		 – 1
53.09		 1
79.61
November 18–20, 2016 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships Junior – – 6
29.88		 2
56.82		 4
86.70

References
  1. "Utana YOSHIDA / Shingo NISHIYAMA". International Skating Union.
  2. "Utana Yoshida". Stats on Ice.
  3. "Utana Yoshida & Takumi Sugiyama". Stats on Ice.
  4. Tamura, Akiko (September 6, 2019). "日本のアイスダンス界に新星！ 15歳吉田唄菜＆17歳西山真瑚。" [A rising star in the Japanese ice dance world! 15-year-old Utana Yoshida & 17-year-old Shingo Nishiyama.] (in Japanese). Number.
  5. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. December 22, 2019.
  6. "2019/20 フィギュアスケート国際競技会派遣選手" [2019/20 Figure Skating International Competition Dispatched Athletes] (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. November 18, 2019.
  7. "Russian ice dancers live up to golden expectations". International Olympic Committee. January 13, 2020.
  8. Barker, Philip (January 15, 2020). "Team Courage wrap up Lausanne 2020 figure skating in style". Inside the Games.
  9. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results – Junior Ice dance". International Skating Union.
  10. Nishiyama, Shingo (January 18, 2021). "Thank you for supporting Utana and me. Today, there is an important announcement. Utana and I decided to separate into our own pathways" (Instagram).
  11. "2020 Dreams on Ice" (in Japanese). TBS. September 13, 2020.
  12. "Utana YOSHIDA / Shingo NISHIYAMA: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
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