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Utana Yoshida
Yoshida at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Native name	吉田 唄菜
Born	(2003-09-06) September 6, 2003 (age 21) Kurashiki, Japan
Hometown	Kyoto
Height	1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Partner	Masaya Morita (since 2023) Seiji Urano (2021) Shingo Nishiyama (2019–21) Takumi Sugiyama (2016–17)
Coach	Cathy Reed Rie Arikawa
Skating club	Kinoshita Academy
Began skating	2010
Japan Championships 2023–24 Nagano Ice dance Winter Youth Olympics 2020 Lausanne Team

Utana Yoshida (吉田 唄菜, Yoshida Utana, born September 6, 2003) is a Japanese ice dancer, who currently competes with Masaya Morita. Together, they are the 2023–24 Japanese national bronze medalists.

With her former skating partner, Shingo Nishiyama, she was a two-time Japanese national junior ice dance champion (2020, 2021) and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion in the team event.

Personal life

Yoshida was born on September 6, 2003, in Kurashiki, Japan. In 2021, after graduating from N High School, she enrolled at Doshisha University's Faculty of Commerce.

She looks up to ice dance teams, Carreira/Ponomarenko and Lajoie/Lagha.

Career

Early career

Yoshida began skating in 2010 after being inspired from watching Mao Asada perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Orginally, a ladies' singles skater, 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.

Partnership with Nishiyama

2019–2020 season

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.

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. 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. 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 set a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships. They placed twelfth in Tallinn.

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

Partnership with Urano

2021–2022 season

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

Partnership with Morita

2023–2024 season

In April 2023, then partnerless Japanese ice dancer, Masaya Morita sent a DM to Yoshida's Instagram account, asking if she would be interested in having a tryout with him which she agreed to. The two would meet up at the Okayama International Skating Rink in Okayama, where their tryout was monitored by Morita's coach, Cathy Reed and Yoshida's coach, Rie Arikawa. This tryout would prove successful and end with Yoshida/Morita agreeing to pair up on that same day. Yoshida would move to Uji, Kyoto to train with Morita at the Kinoshita Skate Academy under coaches, Reed and Arikawa.

Yoshida/Morita made their international competitive debut on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished in fifth place. They next competed at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, which proved to be a tight contest between them and two other senior teams. They finished third in the rhythm dance after Morita fell in their twizzle sequence, coming behind Yoshida's former partner Nishiyama and his new partner Azusa Tanaka and the four-time national champions Komatsubara/Koleto. Yoshida/Morita then won the free dance, but remained in third place overall for the bronze medal. Yoshida said that they were "happy to have skated at Nationals," but admitted they had come just short of their goal of hitting 110 points in the free dance.

With the close result at the national championships, the Japan Skating Federation opted to postpone assigning Japan's lone berth at the 2024 World Championships pending the results of all three teams at the 2024 Four Continents Championships. Traveling to Shanghai to compete, Yoshida/Morita finished tenth overall, but more than sixteen points behind national champions Komatsubara/Koleto.

2024–25 season

Yoshita/Morita started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in fifth place. Going on to make their Grand Prix series debut, the duo finished ninth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.

Programs

With Morita

With Nishiyama

Competitive highlights

Ice dance with Morita

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

Ice dance with Nishiyama

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Ice dance with Sugiyama

Detailed results

With Morita

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

Results in the 2024-25 season 

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 19–21, 2024	2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	6	68.94	5	102.65	6	171.59
Nov 8–10, 2024	2024 NHK Trophy	9	64.30	9	97.06	9	161.36

Results in the 2023-24 season 

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Dec 6–9, 2023	2023 CS Golden Spin	7	62.88	5	101.32	5	164.20
Dec 20–24, 2023	2023–24 Japan Championships	3	64.00	1	109.17	3	173.17
Jan 30–Feb 4, 2024	2024 Four Continents Championships	10	62.86	10	103.27	10	166.13

With Nishiyama

Junior results

With Sugiyama

References

1. ^ "Utana YOSHIDA / Masaya MORITA: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024.
2. 浅野, 有美. "吉田唄菜、森田真沙也の「うたまさ」カップル　全日本優勝へ「大きな差をつけて勝つ」". 4 Years. 4 Years. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
3. "【フィギュアスケート部】うたまさカップル 3位入賞". Doshisha Atom. Doshisha Atom. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
4. ^ Yoneyama, Izumi. "Storytelling and Unison: Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita on their programs and goals". Anything GOEs. Anything GOEs. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
5. "吉田唄菜＆西山真瑚". Nikkan Sports. Nikkan Sports. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
6. "Utana Yoshida". Stats on Ice.
7. ^ "Utana Yoshida & Takumi Sugiyama". Stats on Ice.
8. ^ Tamura, Akiko (September 6, 2019). "日本のアイスダンス界に新星！ 15歳吉田唄菜＆17歳西山真瑚。" [A rising star in the Japanese ice dance world! 15-year-old Utana Yoshida & 17-year-old Shingo Nishiyama.] (in Japanese). Number.
9. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. December 22, 2019.
10. "2019/20 フィギュアスケート国際競技会派遣選手" [2019/20 Figure Skating International Competition Dispatched Athletes] (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. November 18, 2019.
11. "Russian ice dancers live up to golden expectations". International Olympic Committee. January 13, 2020.
12. ^ Barker, Philip (January 15, 2020). "Team Courage wrap up Lausanne 2020 figure skating in style". Inside the Games.
13. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results – Junior Ice dance". International Skating Union.
14. Nishiyama, Shingo (January 18, 2021). "Thank you for supporting Utana and me. Today, there is an important announcement. Utana and I decided to separate into our own pathways" (Instagram). Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
15. Yoshida, Utana (May 10, 2021). "うたじです！ 応援よろしくお願いします" [It's Utaji! Please provide us with support] – via Instagram.
16. Urano, Seiji (December 1, 2021). "This year I partnered up with @_utana_96 to begin a new adventure. Unfortunately after a few months we have decided to advance in different directions" – via Instagram.
17. 藤塚, 大輔. "【森田真沙也〈下〉】インスタのDM、岡山で語り合った夢…吉田唄菜と駆け抜けた１年". Nikkan Sports. Nikkan Sports. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
18. @kinoshita_skate_academy (June 2, 2023). "新カップル誕生のお知らせ" [Announcement of the birth of a new couple] – via Instagram.
19. ^ "Utana YOSHIDA / Masaya MORITA: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
20. Di Sanzio, Chloé (December 24, 2023). "Komatsubara and Koleto reclaim national title". Golden Skate. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
21. Gallagher, Jack (February 5, 2024). "Komatsubara, Koleto Clinch Ticket to Worlds by Placing 8th at Four Continents". Japan Forward. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
22. ^ "JPN-Utana YOSHIDA / Masaya MORITA". Skating Scores.
23. "Utana YOSHIDA / Masaya MORITA: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 3, 2024.
24. "吉田 唄菜 Utana YOSHIDA / 森田 真沙也 Masaya MORITA". Fuji TV. Fuji TV. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
25. "2020 Dreams on Ice" (in Japanese). TBS. September 13, 2020.
26. "Utana YOSHIDA / Shingo NISHIYAMA". International Skating Union.
27. ^ "Utana YOSHIDA / Shingo NISHIYAMA: Competition Results". International Skating Union.

External links

• Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita at the International Skating Union
• YOSHIDA Utana / MORITA Masaya at the Japan Skating Federation
• Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita at SkatingScores.com
• Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama at the International Skating Union
• Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama at SkatingScores.com
• Utana Yoshida / Takumi Suigyama at the International Skating Union
• Utana Yoshida on Instagram

• 2003 births
• Japanese female ice dancers
• Living people
• Figure skaters at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
• Figure skaters from Kurashiki
• Sportspeople from Okayama Prefecture
• 21st-century Japanese sportswomen
• Doshisha University alumni