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Rinka Watanabe (渡辺 倫果, Watanabe Rinka, born 19 July 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2022 Skate Canada International champion and the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy champion.

Rinka Watanabe
Personal information
Native name	渡辺倫果
Country represented	Japan
Born	(2002-07-19) 19 July 2002 (age 20) Chiba, Japan
Home town	Tokyo, Japan
Height	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Coach	Kensuke Nakaniwa Makoto Nakata Momoe Naguma Aya Tanoue
Former coach	Megumu Seki
Choreographer	Kenji Miyamoto Cathy Reed
Former choreographer	Lance Vipond
Skating club	Hosei University
Training locations	Chiba
Began skating	2006
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	213.14 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy
Short program	66.83 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy
Free skate	146.31 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy

Personal life

Watanabe was born on 19 July 2002 in Chiba.

Skating career

Early years

Watanabe began figure skating at the age of three after watching Shizuka Arakawa win gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics on TV.

After winning the 2013 Japanese national novice B gold medal, she was invited to skate in the gala at the 2013 NHK Trophy. Given few international assignments in the early years of her junior career, she won the junior silver medal at the 2018 Bavarian Open and gold in the junior competition in the 2019 Coupe du Printemps.[1]

2021–2022 season

In her final season of international junior eligibility, Watanabe was not able to participate in the Junior Grand Prix because the Japan Skating Federation opted not to send singles skaters abroad in the fall.[2] She finished sixth at the Japan Championships, earning international assignments for the second half of the season.[1]

Watanabe competed in the junior division at the Bavarian Open, winning the silver medal and earning the technical minimums needed for the 2022 World Junior Championships. She then appeared at the Coupe du Printemps at the senior level, winning gold, before placing tenth at the World Junior Championships to conclude the season.[1]

2022–2023 season

Watanabe began the season by making her Challenger series debut at the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy, where she unexpectedly won the gold over reigning World and Japanese champion Kaori Sakamoto. She also cleared the 200-point threshold for the first time internationally.[3]

Following her success at the Lombardia Trophy, she was selected to replace Wakaba Higuchi at both of her Grand Prix assignments when the latter withdrew due to an injury.[4] Making her Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Skate Canada International, she was considered a favourite going in, but placed sixth in the short program due to rotation issues on some triple jumps.[5] She rebounded in the free skate, winning that segment and taking the gold medal.[6] Watanabe was pleased afterward, noting "this is my first time at the Grand Prix and I did pretty good. I was very nervous. I was told only one week ago that I would participate and it was hard to adjust my training."[7]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2022–2023 [8]	El Tango de Roxanne (from Moulin Rouge!) performed by Ewan McGregor, Jose Feliciano choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	Jin by Yu Takami, Seiko Nagaoka, Kan Sawada choreo. by Cathy Reed	This Is Me (from The Greatest Showman) by Keala Settle
2021–2022 [9]	Heartlines by Florence and the Machine choreo. by Lance Vipond	Carmina Burana by Carl Orff choreo. by Cathy Reed	Bachelorette by Florence and the Machine choreo. by Megumu Seki
2020–2021	Bachelorette by Florence and the Machine choreo. by Megumu Seki	Sunday Afternoon by Carl Orff choreo. by Megumu Seki

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

Seasons: 2017–18 to present

International[1]
Event	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23
GP Skate Canada						1st
GP NHK Trophy						TBD
CS Lombardia Trophy						1st
Coupe du Printemps					1st
International: Junior[1]
Junior Worlds					10th
Bavarian Open	2nd				2nd
Coupe du Printemps		1st
National[1]
Japan	19th	18th		27th	6th
Japan Junior	5th	4th

Seasons: 2012–13 through 2016–17

National
Event	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17
Japan Junior			30th	13th
Japan Novice	11th B	1st B	5th A	4th A

Detailed results

2022–23 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 18–20, 2022	2022 NHK Trophy			TBD
October 28–30, 2022	2022 Skate Canada International	6 63.27	1 134.32	1 197.59
September 16–19, 2022	2022 CS Lombardia Trophy	2 66.83	1 146.31	1 213.14

2021–22 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
April 13–17, 2022	2022 World Junior Championships	Junior	11 59.96	11 105.48	10 165.44
March 18–20, 2022	2022 Coupe du Printemps	Senior	1 64.07	1 126.77	1 190.84
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Bavarian Open	Junior	2 59.57	2 124.12	2 183.69
December 22–26, 2021	2021–22 Japan Championships	Senior	8 65.07	4 134.08	6 199.15
2020–21 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
December 24–27, 2020	2020–21 Japan Championships	Senior	27 46.18	-	27 46.18
2018–19 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
March 15–17, 2019	2019 Coupe du Printemps	Junior	1 58.79	1 94.50	1 153.29
December 20–24, 2018	2018–19 Japan Championships	Senior	23 50.47	14 111.52	18 161.99
November 23–25, 2018	2018–19 Japan Junior Championships	Junior	6 54.16	5 103.54	4 157.70
2017–18 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
January 26–31, 2018	2018 Bavarian Open	Junior	2 57.41	2 106.95	2 164.36
December 21–24, 2017	2017–18 Japan Championships	Senior	19 55.46	18 106.45	19 161.91
November 24–26, 2017	2017–18 Japan Junior Championships	Junior	4 59.45	5 109.17	5 168.62
2015–16 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
November 21–23, 2015	2015–16 Japan Junior Championships	Junior	9 53.35	17 87.55	13 140.90

References

External links

• Rinka Watanabe at the International Skating Union
• Rinka Watanabe on Instagram

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