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Mana Kawabe
Kawabe during her free skate at the 2022 World Championships
Native name	河辺 愛菜
Born	(2004-10-31) October 31, 2004 (age 20) Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Hometown	Toyota, Japan
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Coach	Mihoko Higuchi
Skating club	Chukyo University
Began skating	2009
Japan Championships 2021–22 Saitama Singles

Mana Kawabe (河辺 愛菜, Kawabe Mana, born October 31, 2004) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2021 NHK Trophy silver medalist, the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo bronze medalist, the 2022 CS U.S. Classic bronze medalist, the 2021–22 Japanese national bronze medalist, and the 2019–20 Japanese junior national champion. Kawabe is the eighteenth woman to land a clean triple Axel internationally. She represented Japan at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Kawabe was born on October 31, 2004, in Nagoya, Japan. She enjoys reading. Kawabe looks up to former training mate Rika Kihira.

Career

Early career

Kawabe began skating in 2009 after being inspired by fellow Nagoya native Mao Asada. She was coached by Hiroshi Nagakubo, Yoriko Naruse, Miho Kawaume, and Yuko Hongo at Howa Sports Land in Nagoya until Nagakubo's retirement in 2017. Kawabe then switched to her former coaches, Mie Hamada, Yamato Tamura, Haruko Okamoto, and Cathy Reed, and moved to train with them in Takatsuki.

Kawabe is the 2015–16 Japanese national novice B silver medalist. On the advanced novice level internationally, she is the 2017 Coupe du Printemps and 2017 Asian Open Trophy champion. Kawabe did not qualify for the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships and competed with an injury for much of the season.

2019–2020 season

Kawabe made her junior international debut at 2019 JGP United States, placing fifth. She then improved to fourth at 2019 JGP Croatia. In October 2019, Kawabe won Kinki Regionals ahead of Moa Iwano and Riko Takino before winning Western Sectionals in November ahead of Nana Araki and Hanna Yoshida.

At the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, Kawabe led Tomoe Kawabata and Rino Matsuike in the short program by over a point. She then landed her first officially ratified triple Axel in the free skate and completed eight clean triple jumps to take the title over Kawabata and Yoshida by nearly fifteen points. Kawabe told the media afterwards: "This is unbelievable. I didn’t think I could win." As junior national champion, she was named to represent Japan at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and the 2020 World Junior Championships. Kawabe was also invited to compete in the senior division at the 2019–20 Japan Championships, alongside the rest of the top six finishers in the junior division.

Kawabe struggled in both the short program and the free skating at 2019–20 Japan Championships to finish thirteenth overall. However, she successfully landed her opening triple Axel in the free skating and said her "satisfaction was about 65%."

At the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in January, Kawabe set personal bests in all segments to finish fourth overall behind You Young of South Korea and Russians Kseniia Sinitsyna and Anna Frolova. She expressed disappointment at her mistakes on her triple Axel and her triple Lutz. Kawabe was the only member of the Japanese team not drawn for the team event.

Kawabe skated a clean short program to place eighth at the 2020 World Junior Championships but made several mistakes in the free skating to drop to eleventh overall.

2020–2021 season

Kawabe won the silver medal at the Kinki Regional Championship before coming fourth at Western Sectionals. She was assigned to make her senior international debut at the 2020 NHK Trophy, in a Grand Prix field that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was attended primarily by Japanese skaters. She was sixth in the short program, falling on her attempted triple Axel. She was sixth in the free skate and overall as well.

Kawabe ranked sixth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.

2021–2022 season

Initially, without any Grand Prix assignments, Kawabe was named as a replacement skater at the 2021 Skate Canada International following the withdrawal of Alexia Paganini. She was twelfth of twelve skaters after the short program but was sixth in the free skate and rose to ninth place overall. She landed a triple Axel in the free skate, albeit deemed a quarter short of rotation by the technical panel, obtaining a new personal best in that segment and in total score. Kawabe received a second assignment to the 2021 NHK Trophy, following the injury-related withdrawal of Rika Kihira. Second in the short program with a landed triple Axel, she was fourth in the free skate but remained in second place overall and took the silver medal.

At the 2021–22 Japan Championships, Kawabe placed third in the short program, landing a triple Axel in that segment. She was third in the free as well, again landing the triple Axel but with a few other jump errors. The following day she was named to the Japanese Olympic team. In the 2022 Winter Olympics women's event short program, Kawabe fell on her triple Axel attempt, scoring 62.69 and placing fifteenth in the segment. An error-riddled free skate saw her drop to twenty-third. She was fifteenth at the 2022 World Championships to end the season.

2022–2023 season

Kawabe began her season with a bronze medal at the 2022 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. On the Grand Prix, she first competed at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, where she finished third in the short program, but dropped to sixth place overall after an error-riddled free skate. At her second event, the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo, Kawabe was again third in the short program despite a slight under rotation on her triple flip. She indicated that she had been focusing on training her free skate, hoping to avoid "repeating the same mistakes." She managed a season's best score in the free skate, placing second in that second and holding third overall to take the bronze medal.

At the 2022–23 Japan Championships, Kawabe came in ninth place. Two months later, she won the bronze medal at the International Challenge Cup, joining Kaori Sakamoto and Mai Mihara in a Japanese sweep of the podium, and finishing second in the free skate after a disappointing ninth in the short program.

2023–2024 season

Beginning the season on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate America, Kawabe placed eighth after a difficult free skate where she fell twice. She remarked afterward "I have no idea what happened with my jumps." She went on to place ninth at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo.

Kawabe came thirteenth at the 2023–24 Japan Championships.

Programs

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2019–20 season to present

Earlier career

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level

References

1. ^ "河辺 愛菜 KAWABE Mana" (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation.
2. ^ "河辺愛菜らが３回転半に挑戦、転倒もフリーに意欲" [Mana Kawabe and others try three and a half rotations and fall] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. December 19, 2019.
3. ^ "Mana KAWABE: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020.
4. ^ "「ザ・ドキュメンタリー ～マナのフィギュア日記 ～１３歳の選択肢～～」" ["The Documentary – Mana's Figure Skating Diary – A 13-Year Old's Choices"] (in Japanese). Kakaku.com. March 26, 2018.
5. ^ "河辺愛菜が全日本ジュニアＶ 初の３アクセル成功も" [Mana Kawabe also succeeded in the first triple axel at All Japan Junior V] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. November 17, 2019.
6. ^ "Mana Kawabe". Stats on Ice.
7. ^ Gallagher, Jack (November 16, 2019). "Yuma Kagiyama, Mana Kawabe win short programs at Japan Junior Championships". The Japan Times.
8. Gallagher, Jack (November 17, 2019). "Yuma Kagiyama, Mana Kawabe leave rivals in dust to win at Japan Junior Championships". The Japan Times.
9. "全日本ジュニア女王 河辺愛菜が3回転半成功" [All-Japan Junior Queen Mana Kawabe succeeded in landing triple axel] (in Japanese). Chunichi Shimbun. December 22, 2019.
10. "河辺愛菜は４位「もっと練習しないと戦えない」" [Mana Kawabe is 4th: "I can't fight without more practice"] (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. January 14, 2020.
11. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results – Junior Ladies". International Skating Union.
12. "2020 JAPAN OPEN & NATIONALS UPDATE". International Figure Skating.
13. Slater, Paula (November 27, 2020). "Sakamoto soars to lead at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate.
14. Slater, Paula (November 28, 2020). "Sakamoto claims ladies' title at 2020 NHK Trophy". Golden Skate.
15. Slater, Paula (December 27, 2020). "Rika Kihira defends title at Japanese Nationals". Golden Skate.
16. Slater, Paula (October 31, 2021). "Russia's Kamila Valieva wins gold at Skate Canada in debut". Golden Skate.
17. McCarvel, Nick (November 13, 2021). "Home hope Sakamoto Kaori soars to Japanese Grand Prix gold; world champions win in pairs, dance". International Olympic Committee.
18. Slater, Paula (November 13, 2021). "Japan's Sakamoto delivers at 2021 NHK Trophy". Golden Skate.
19. Slater, Paula (December 25, 2021). "Sakamoto reclaims title at Japanese Nationals". Golden Skate.
20. Penny, Brandon (February 15, 2022). "As it happened: ROC, U.S. skaters star in women's short program". NBC Sports.
21. Penny, Brandon (February 17, 2022). "Re-live every moment of the historic Olympic women's free skate". NBC Sports.
22. ^ "Mana KAWABE: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
23. Slater, Paula (November 5, 2022). "Hendrickx dominates Women at Grand Prix de France". Golden Skate.
24. "Hendrickx (BEL) and Mihara (JPN) in prime position after Women's Short Program in Espoo". International Skating Union. November 25, 2022.
25. "Mihara (JPN) wins second Grand Prix gold in Espoo". International Skating Union. November 26, 2022.
26. Slater, Paula (November 26, 2022). "Japan's Mai Mihara leaps to gold in Espoo". Golden Skate.
27. Gallagher, Jack (December 24, 2022). "Kaori Sakamoto Captures Third National Title at Japan Championships". Japan Forward.
28. Gallagher, Jack (February 27, 2023). "Japan Continues Domination with Medal Bonanza at Challenge Cup". Japan Forward.
29. Gallagher, Jack (October 24, 2023). "Shun Sato Earns Third-Place Finish at Skate America". Japan Forward. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
30. Gallagher, Jack (November 21, 2023). "Kaori Sakamoto Books Ticket to Grand Prix Final with Win in Finland". Japan Forward. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
31. "Mana Kawabe: 2024/25 SP". X. X. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
32. "Mana KAWABE: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023.
33. "Mana KAWABE: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022.
34. "Mana KAWABE: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021.
35. "Mana KAWABE: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020.
36. "2020 Dreams on Ice" (in Japanese). TBS. September 13, 2020.
37. "JPN-Mana KAWABE". SkatingScores.

External links

• Mana Kawabe at the International Skating Union
• Mana Kawabe at the Japan Skating Federation
• Mana Kawabe at Olympedia (archive)
• Mana Kawabe at Olympics.com
• Mana Kawabe on Instagram

• 2004 births
• Living people
• Japanese female single skaters
• Figure skaters from Nagoya
• Figure skaters at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for Japan
• 21st-century Japanese sportswomen