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Rino Matsuike (松生 理乃, Matsuike Rino, born October 10, 2004) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2020 NHK Trophy bronze medalist and finished fifth at the 2022 Four Continents Championships, winning a small bronze medal for her free skate. On the junior level, she is the 2020–21 Japanese junior national champion and the 2019 JGP Latvia bronze medalist.

Rino Matsuike
Personal information
Native name	松生 理乃
Country represented	Japan
Born	(2004-10-10) October 10, 2004 (age 18) Nagoya, Japan
Home town	Nagoya
Residence	Nagoya
Height	1.51 m (4 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Coach	Machiko Yamada Yuko Hongo Yukiko Murakami
Former coach	Mihoko Higuchi
Choreographer	Noriko Sato Kenji Miyamoto Kanako Murakami
Former choreographer	Mihoko Higuchi
Skating club	Chukyo University Senior HS
Former skating club	Grand Prix Tokai FSC
Training locations	Nagoya
Began skating	2012
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	202.21 2022 Four Continents
Short program	66.41 2019 JGP Latvia
Free skate	142.05 2022 Four Continents

Personal life

Matsuike was born on October 10, 2004 in Nagoya. As of 2020, she is a student at Chukyo University's senior high school.[1] Matsuike admires Mao Asada and training mate Mako Yamashita.[2]

Career

Early career

Matsuike began skating in 2012. She trains under Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi in her hometown of Nagoya.

Matsuike competed at the Japan Novice Championships twice, finishing 14th in 2016–17 and 11th in 2017–18. She moved up to juniors the following year, finishing eighth at the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships.[3]

2019–2020 season

Matsuike made her junior international debut at 2019 JGP Latvia, winning the bronze medal behind Lee Hae-in and Daria Usacheva. She is the first Japanese lady to medal in her junior international debut since Rika Kihira in 2016–17.[4] Matsuike was scheduled to compete at 2019 JGP Italy, but withdrew due to injury.[5][6]

At the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships in November, Matsuike was third in the short program, but 14th in the free skate to fall to ninth overall.[7] As a result, she did not qualify for the senior Championships and did not make the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics or the 2020 World Junior Championships teams.

2020–2021 season

Due to the cancellation of the Junior Grand Prix, Matsuike opened her season on the domestic qualifying circuit. She won both the Chubu Regionals and the Western Sectionals en route to the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships title.[8] Matsuike won by nearly ten points over Hana Yoshida and Mao Shimada. Her win would have qualified her for a spot on the 2021 World Junior Championships team, but the event was cancelled.[9]

Matsuike made her senior international debut at the 2020 NHK Trophy, winning bronze behind Kaori Sakamoto and Wakaba Higuchi. She called the event "a real confidence booster" and "that it [was] an honor to be skating here at NHK Trophy, so [she] wanted to enjoy every moment."[10] Matsuike aimed to further develop her skills after competing alongside the seniors, but her performance drew praise from international commentators, including Ted Barton.[9]

Matsuike made her senior Japan Championships debut, placing seventh in the short program after a fall on a non-element, but otherwise executing the program cleanly.[11] She was fourth in the free skate, receiving an underrotation on one jump and an edge call on her triple flip, and rose to fourth place overall.[12] As a result of her placement, Matsuike was named first alternate for the 2021 World Championships team, pending her attainment of senior TES minimums.

2021–2022 season

Matsuike was assigned as a host pick to the 2021 NHK Trophy, where she finished in sixth place. She had begun attempting a triple Axel in competition that season at Japanese domestic competitions, but due to recovery from injury did not attempt one at NHK.[13] She was eighth at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, her second Grand Prix. She expressed "many regrets about both of my programs," but said that she was focused on increasing her technical difficulty in the future to compete with the top Russians skaters.[14] 

At the 2021–22 Japan Championships, Matsuike placed seventh. She was named as third alternate for the Japanese Olympic team, and assigned to compete at the 2022 Four Continents Championships.[15] A poor short program left Matsuike in eighth place at Four Continents going in the free skate, after falling on a triple flip attempt and stepping out of her jump combination. She went on to skate a clean free skate, other than an edge call on the triple flip, placing third in that segment and winning a bronze small medal. She rose to sixth overall. Matsuike reflected on her season, saying she had had "a lot of regrets" about earlier events and the short program, but that "I was crying and really under pressure, but I was able to push myself, and today's performance was good." She expressed a hope of adding more difficult technical content in the following season.[16] Matsuike finished the season at the International Challenge Cup, winning the gold medal.[17]

2022–2023 season

After placing eighth in the short program at the 2022 Skate America, Matsuike withdrew before the free skate due to illness.[18] She then went on to compete at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, where she subsequently finished in seventh place.[17]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2022–2023	Papa, Can You Hear Me? by Michel Legrand perf. by Barbra Streisand choreo. by Noriko Sato	Nella Fantasia by Ennio Moriccone perf. by Sarah Àlainn choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	Skinny Love by Justin Vernon perf. by Birdy choreo. by Kanako Murakami
2021–2022 [19]	A Quoi Ca Sert l'Amour by Michel Emer perf. by L' Escargot choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi	Moonlight (Based on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) by Victoria Tocca, Jennifer Thomas choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi	Say Something by A Great Big World, Mike Campbell perf. by Pentatonix
2020–2021 [1]	The Color Purple by Quincy Jones choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi	Perhaps Love by John Denver, Plácido Domingo performed by Jonathan and Charlotte choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi	The Color Purple by Quincy Jones choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi Spanish Dance No. 1 (from La vida breve) by Manuel de Falla performed by Kristina & Laura choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi
2019–2020 [20]		Dryades Pan by Karol Szymanowski Variation on an Original Theme, Op. 15 by Henryk Wieniawski choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[17]
Event	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23
Four Continents						5th
GP France							7th
GP NHK Trophy					3rd	6th
GP Rostelecom Cup						8th
GP Skate America							WD
Challenge Cup						1st
International: Junior[17]
Junior Worlds					C
JGP Italy				WD
JGP Latvia				3rd
National[3]
Japan Champ.					4th	7th
Japan Junior			8th	9th	1st
Japan Novice	14th A	11th A
Team Events
Japan Open						2nd T 2nd P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled Levels: A = Novice A

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. ISU Personal bests highlighted in bold.

Senior results

2022–23 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 4–6, 2022	2022 Grand Prix de France	9 57.68	6 118.84	7 176.52
October 21–23, 2022	2022 Skate America	8 59.50	WD	WD
2021–2022 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 24–27, 2022	2022 Challenge Cup	1 74.21	1 150.13	1 224.34
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	8 60.16	3 142.05	5 202.21
December 22–26, 2021	2021–22 Japan Championships	6 72.31	7 126.46	7 198.77
November 26–28, 2021	2021 Rostelecom Cup	7 62.98	8 121.38	8 184.36
November 12–14, 2021	2021 NHK Trophy	7 63.34	5 122.83	6 186.17
October 3, 2021	2021 Japan Open	–	2 135.12	2T
2020–2021 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
December 24–27, 2020	2020–21 Japan Championships	7 65.57	4 139.17	4 204.74
November 27–29, 2020	2020 NHK Trophy	4 65.74	2 133.23	3 198.97

Junior results

2020–2021 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 21–23, 2020	2020–21 Japan Junior Championships	1 69.06	1 129.32	1 198.38
2019–2020 season
November 15–17, 2019	2019–20 Japan Junior Championships	3 61.91	14 94.79	9 156.70
September 4–7, 2019	2019 JGP Latvia	4 66.41	2 126.62	3 193.03
2018–2019 season
November 23–25, 2018	2018–19 Japan Junior Championships	7 53.62	10 97.00	8 150.62

References

External links

• Rino MATSUIKE at the International Skating Union

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