I have 2 skaters that I absolutely look up to. Both of them are from Team Japan. Japan has been very attacking in the figure skating world. In this sport, you need to start really young. If you start above 10 years old, that’s already considered starting late. These skaters have started skating when they were about 5 years old.

The first one is Japan’s Shoma Uno:

Shoma Uno is a 19 year old and the 2015 Junior World Champion. This year, he debuted as a senior and has been on podiums ever since. He landed the first ever Quadruple Flip Jump in the history of figure skating. Shoma is very aggressive on the ice, but very shy and quirky off of it.

He looks up to his upperclassman, reigning Olympic Champion, Yuzuru Hanyu. Shoma is very hardworking and set high goals for himself, even when he gets place on the podium and doesn’t reach the scores he wanted, he gets disappointed. I think that’s why I admire him so much. I’ve learned to never be contented with what I have when I know I have the ability to get more.

Next is Yuna Kim. Yuna is the 2010 Olympic gold medalist and she’s as clean as a whistle when she skates. She makes it look so effortless and easy. She’s very graceful and very beautiful.

In ways I could relate to Yuna, one is that she had a lot of financial problems to keep up with the sport. When they saw that she had potential, her parents had to work 2 jobs and sold their house. Training abroad costs a lot! Before Yuna, the republic of Korea didn’t give a lot of financial support to their athletes engaged in this sport, but it all changed when she became World Champion.

Yuna retired after the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She said she felt relieved, and that her time as a skater was up. Even after then, she continues to encourage athletes. She is the Ambassador for the Youth Olympics.

Realistically, I can never reach the olympics anymore. But my dream is to be able to perform in Ice shows with my favorite skaters. It is very challenging and very difficult, but I will do my best!