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Utana Yoshida (吉田 唄菜, Yoshida Utana, born September 6, 2003) is a Japanese ice dancer. With partner Shingo Nishiyama, she is the 2019–20 Japanese national junior ice dance champion and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion in the team event.
Personal life
Utana Yoshida was born on September 6, 2003 in Kurashiki, Japan. Her favorite skaters are Misato Komatsubara / Tim Koleto. Yoshida / Nishiyama are popular among fans and have a large social media following. They look up to training mate Yuzuru Hanyu.
Career
Early career
Yoshida began skating in 2009 and previously competed in ladies' singles. 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. Yoshida switched to ice dance in 2016, partnering with Takumi Sugiyama. 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 and moved to train with him and his coaches at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Canada in February 2019.
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.
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. 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. 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.
Yoshida / Nishiyama have a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships.
Programs
With Nishiyama
| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 |
|
|
With Sugiyama
| Season | Short dance | Free dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 |
Competitive highlights
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Nishiyama
| International: Junior | |
|---|---|
| Event | 2019–20 |
| Junior Worlds | TBD |
| Youth Olympics | 6th |
| JGP Italy | 6th |
| JGP United States | 6th |
| Bavarian Open | 6th |
| National | |
| Japan Junior Champ. | 1st |
| Team events | |
| Youth Olympics | 1st T 1st P |
With Sugiyama
| International: Advanced novice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 2016–17 | ||||
| Mentor Toruń Cup | 1st | ||||
| National | |||||
| Japan Junior Champ. | 4th | ||||
Detailed results
With Nishiyama
| 2019–20 season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Level | RD | FD | Total |
| March 2–8, 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | Junior | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| February 3–9, 2020 | 2020 Bavarian Open | Junior | 6 56.36 | 6 86.32 | 6 142.68 |
| January 10–15, 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Team | Junior | – | 1 99.31 | 1T/1P |
| January 10–15, 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | Junior | 6 56.38 | 4 92.32 | 6 148.70 |
| November 15–17, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships | Junior | 1 57.49 | 1 90.06 | 1 147.55 |
| November 1–4, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Western Sectional | Junior | 1 59.06 | 1 91.30 | 1 150.36 |
| October 2–5, 2019 | 2019 JGP Italy | Junior | 7 54.92 | 6 85.48 | 6 140.40 |
| August 28–31, 2019 | 2019 JGP United States | Junior | 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 |
