By Emma Wu
Shoma Uno, a world-renowned figure skater, has announced his retirement at the age of 26. He is a three-time Olympic medalist for Japan and two-time world champion.
Shoma Uno was born on December 17, 1997 in Nagoya, Japan. As a premature birth, he was born, fitting the palm of his father’s hand. He suffered from asthma and went in and out of hospitals throughout childhood. In attempts to help strengthen his body, his parents introduced him to a variety of sports, from soccer to tennis. However, as a child, he was always terrified of the other players, hiding behind the goal. Eventually, he found his calling at the age of 5 with the introduction of skating by Mao Asada. Asada talked him into the rink, and since then, it had been difficult to get him off the ice. He begged his parents to back onto the rink and enrolled into ice skating classes. He began practicing 5-6 hours per day, taking inspiration from his figure skating idol, Daisuke Takahashi.
Uno won his first championship in the 2009-2010 season, placing bronze in the Japan Junior Championships. He worked his way up, winning medals almost every season in competitions throughout the world. In the 2016-2017 season, he placed his first national title in Osaka, Japan. In 2017-2018, he took silver in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Arriving at the 2023-2024 season, he attended the Grand Prix Final, winning the short program with a clean skate. He also entered the 2023-2024 Japan Championships as a title favorite and won the short program, as well. In the overall score, he placed first, winning his sixth national title.
On May 9th, he announced on his Instagram account that he was retiring from figure skating, reposted by Japan’s figure skating federation. He says, ““I discovered skating when I was 5 years old, and I’m very grateful that I was able to continue skating for 21 years and have a wonderful competitive life.”
