Tokyo, Japan, May 14, 2024: Two-time figure skating world champion and three-time Olympic medalist Shoma Uno of Japan has announced his retirement from competitive skating after a long and distinguished career and is ready to open a new chapter in his life, the International Skating Union reports.
“I have decided to retire from active competition,” Uno wrote on Instagram. “I am very grateful to have been able to continue skating for 21 years since I was 5 years old, and to have had a wonderful athletic life.”
The Japanese star, who won the Asian Winter Games gold medal at Sapporo in 2017, will talk in more detail about his retirement and future plans in a press conference scheduled for May 14.
Uno, 26, looks back at a career with many highlights and also difficult times, but he always came back, proving his talent and showing resilience.
When five-year-old Shoma went to the ice rink in his hometown of Nagoya with his father to have fun, he had no idea that he would become a world champion, Olympic medalist and super star of the sport. He only knew that he enjoyed skating and kept coming back to the rink, taking lessons.
He trained with Machiko Yamada, the coach of Japanese skating icon Midori Ito and also with Mihoko Higuchi for many years and worked his way up in the skating world.
The six-time Japan champion was world champion in 2022 and 2023 and won Olympic Winter Games silver medals in 2018 (singles) and 2022 (team) and a bronze medal in singles at Beijing 2022.