Utana Yoshida

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Utana Yoshida
File:2020-01-15 Medals Ceremonies (2020 Winter Youth Olympics) by Sandro Halank–144.jpg
Yoshida at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Personal information
Native name
吉田 唄菜
Born (2003-09-06) September 6, 2003 (age 22)
Kurashiki, Japan
Home townKyoto
Height1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
CountryFile:Flag of Japan.svg Japan
PartnerMasaya Morita (since 2023)
Seiji Urano (2021)
Shingo Nishiyama (2019–21)
Takumi Sugiyama (2016–17)
CoachCathy Reed
Scott Moir
Madison Hubbell
Adrián Díaz
Skating clubKinoshita Academy
Began skating2010
Japan Championships
Gold medal – first place 2024–25 Osaka Ice dance
Bronze medal – third place 2023–24 Nagano Ice dance
World Team Trophy
Silver medal – second place 2025 Tokyo Team
"" Winter Youth Olympics ""
Gold medal – first place 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 2025 Asian Winter Games champions, the 2024–25 Japanese national champions and 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

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Yoshida was born on September 6, 2003, in Kurashiki, Japan.[1] She is the graduate of N High School.

She looks up to ice dance teams, Carreira/Ponomarenko and Lajoie/Lagha.[2]

Career

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Early career

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Yoshida began skating in 2010 after being inspired from watching Mao Asada perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[2][3] Originally 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.[4] Yoshida switched to ice dance in 2016, partnering with Takumi Sugiyama.[5] 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.

Ice dance with Shingo Nishiyama

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2019–2020 season

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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.[6]

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.[7][8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[10]

Yoshida/Nishiyama set a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships.[6] They placed twelfth in Tallinn.[11]

2020–2021 season

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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.[12]

Partnership with Seiji Urano

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2021–2022 season

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In May 2021, Yoshida announced her partnership with American skater Seiji Urano for Japan.[13]

Yoshida/Urano did not appear in any major international or domestic events before announcing their split in December 2021.[14]

Ice dance with Masaya Morita

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2023–2024 season

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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.[15][1][16]

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.[17] 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.[18]

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.[19]

2024–25 season

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File:Utana Yoshida & Masaya Morita 2025 Worlds Rhythm Dance 06.jpg
Yoshida/Morita performing their rhythm dance at the 2025 World Championships

Yoshida/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.[20]

In late December, Yoshida/Morita won the national title at the 2024–25 Japan Championships.[20][21] They were subsequently named to the Four Continents and World teams.[22][23]

Going on to compete at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, Yoshida/Morita won the gold medal. They subsequently competed at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea, finishing in eighth place.[20]

At the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Yoshida/Morita placed twenty-second in the rhythm dance, only 0.40 points from qualifying for the free dance segment.[20][24]

Selected to compete for Team Japan at the 2025 World Team Trophy, Yoshida/Morita placed sixth in all segments of the ice dance event and Team Japan won the silver medal overall.[20][25][26] Following the event, the team added Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell, and Adrián Díaz to their coaching team.[27][28]

2025–26 season

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Yoshida/Morita opened their season by finishing sixth at the 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup. They then went on to compete at the final Olympic qualifying event, the 2025 Skate to Milano. Yoshida/Morita finished seventh overall and were named as the third alternates for the 2026 Winter Olympic ice dance team.[20][29]

They subsequently competed at the 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy, placing fifth overall. Selected as host picks at the 2025 NHK Trophy, Yoshida/Morita finished the event in tenth place overall.[20]

Programs

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Ice dance with Masaya Morita

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Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition
2025–2026
[28][30][31][32]
2024–2025
[33]
2023–2024
[1][34]

Ice dance with Shingo Nishiyama

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File:2020-01-11 Ice Dance Rhythm Dance (2020 Winter Youth Olympics) by Sandro Halank–1035.jpg
Yoshida/Nishiyama at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition
2020–2021
[35]
  • Hip Hip Chin Chin
2019–2020
[36]

Competitive highlights

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Ice dance with Masaya Morita

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Competition placements at senior level [20]
Season 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
World Championships 22nd
Four Continents Championships 10th 8th
Japan Championships 3rd 1st TBD
World Team Trophy 2nd
(6th)
GP NHK Trophy 9th 10th
CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 5th
CS Kinoshita Group Cup 6th
CS Trialeti Trophy 5th
Asian Winter Games 1st
Skate to Milano 7th

Ice dance with Shingo Nishiyama

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International: Junior[37]
Event 19–20 20–21
Junior Worlds 12th
Youth Olympics 6th
JGP Italy 6th
JGP United States 6th
Bavarian Open 6th
National[37]
Japan Junior Champ. 1st 1st
Japan Western Sect. 1st J 1st J
Team events
Youth Olympics 1st T
1st P
T = Team result; P = Personal result.
Medals awarded for team result only.
Levels: J= Junior

Ice dance with Takumi Sugiyama

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International: Advanced novice[5]
Event 16–17
Mentor Toruń Cup 1st
National[5]
Japan Junior Champ. 4th
Japan Novice Champ. 1st

Detailed results

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With Morita

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ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [20]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 171.59 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
Rhythm dance TSS 69.69 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy
TES 40.37 2025 Skate to Milano
PCS 30.07 2025 NHK Trophy
Free dance TSS 103.27 2024 Four Continents Championships
TES 58.79 2024 Four Continents Championships
PCS 45.10 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
Results in the 2023–24 season [20]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Dec 6–9, 2023 Croatia 2023 CS Golden Spin 7 62.88 5 101.32 5 164.20
Dec 20–24, 2023 Japan 2023–24 Japan Championships 3 64.00 1 109.17 3 173.17
Jan 30–Feb 4, 2024 China 2024 Four Continents Championships 10 62.86 10 103.27 10 166.13
Results in the 2024–25 season [20]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 19–21, 2024 Germany 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 6 68.94 5 102.65 6 171.59
Nov 8–10, 2024 Japan 2024 NHK Trophy 9 64.30 9 97.06 9 161.36
Dec 19–22, 2024 Japan 2024–25 Japan Championships 1 71.84 1 104.37 1 176.21
Feb 11–13, 2025 China 2025 Asian Winter Games 1 68.88 2 104.43 1 173.31
Feb 19–23, 2025 South Korea 2025 Four Continents Championships 8 65.00 9 101.56 8 166.56
Mar 25–30, 2025 United States 2025 World Championships 22 67.69 — — 22 67.69
Apr 17–20, 2025 Japan 2025 World Team Trophy 6 56.63 6 94.95 2 (6) 151.58
Results in the 2025–26 season [20]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 5–7, 2025 Japan 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup 6 62.81 6 98.25 6 161.06
Sep 18–21, 2025 China 2025 ISU Skate to Milano 4 69.14 7 98.49 7 167.63
Oct 8–11, 2025 Georgia (country) 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy 5 69.69 7 98.27 5 167.96
Nov 7–9, 2025 Japan 2025 NHK Trophy 8 69.61 10 85.67 10 155.28

With Nishiyama

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Junior results

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File:2020-01-11 Ice Dance Rhythm Dance (2020 Winter Youth Olympics) by Sandro Halank–0910.jpg
Yoshida / Nishiyama at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
File:Utana Yoshida and Shingo Nishiyama - 2019 JGP United States.jpg
Yoshida/Nishiyama at the 2019 JGP United States
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

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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

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