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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 (2020, 2021) and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion in the team event.

Utana Yoshida
Yoshida at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Personal information
Native name	吉田 唄菜
Country represented	Japan
Born	(2003-09-06) September 6, 2003 (age 18) Kurashiki, Japan
Home town	Kurashiki
Residence	Toronto, Canada
Height	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Former partner	Seiji Urano Shingo Nishiyama Takumi Sugiyama
Coach	Andrew Hallam Tracy Wilson Joey Russell Rie Arikawa
Choreographer	Aaron Lowe Megan Wing Romain Haguenauer
Skating club	Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
Former skating club	Okayama SC
Training locations	Toronto
Began skating	2009
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	149.61 2020 Junior Worlds
Short dance	56.43 2019 JGP United States
Free dance	99.21 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Medal record Figure skating: Ice dance Representing  Japan Representing Mixed-NOCs Winter Youth Olympics 2020 Lausanne Team

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] In May 2021, Yoshida announced her partnership with American skater Seiji Urano for Japan.[11]

2021–2022 season

Yoshida/Urano did not appear in any major international or domestic events before announcing their split in December 2021.[12]

Programs

With Nishiyama

Season	Rhythm dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2020–2021 [13]	Charleston: One Foxtrot: I Can Do That Foxtrot: Medley (from A Chorus Line) by Marvin Hamlisch choreo. by Aaron Lowe, Megan Wing	Entree of Basil Pas de Deux (from Don Quixote) by Léon Minkus choreo. by Romain Haguenauer	Hip Hip Chin Chin Charleston: One Foxtrot: I Can Do That Foxtrot: Medley (from A Chorus Line) by Marvin Hamlisch choreo. by Aaron Lowe, Megan Wing
2019–2020 [1]

With Sugiyama

Season	Short dance	Free dance
2016–2017

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Nishiyama

International: Junior[14]
Event	19–20	20–21
Junior Worlds	12th
Youth Olympics	6th
JGP Italy	6th
JGP United States	6th
Bavarian Open	6th
National[14]
Japan Junior Champ.	1st	1st
Team events
Youth Olympics	1st 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 Cup	1st
National[3]
Japan Junior Champ.	4th

Detailed results

With Nishiyama

Junior results

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
Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2020	2020–21 Japan Western Sectional	1 58.83	1 88.12	1 146.95
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

External links

• Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama at the International Skating Union
• Utana Yoshida / Takumi Suigyama at the International Skating Union

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