is a former Japanese

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. She is the 2018 CS Asian Open silver medalist, the 2017 Asian Trophy silver medalist, and the 2018

Coupe du Printemps The Coupe du Printemps is an annual figure skating competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum ga ...

bronze medalist. At the junior level, she is a three-time

ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international figure skating competition, junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded ...

medalist (two gold, one silver), and two-time Japanese Junior national silver medalist. She finished within the top five at three World Junior Championships (

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Personal life

Shiraiwa was born on November 26, 2001, in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, Japan. She is currently a student at

Kansai University , abbreviated as or , is a Private school, private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai, Osaka, Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as ...

Career

Early years

Shiraiwa began skating in 2006, after being inspired by

Shizuka Arakawa is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in f ...

's 2006 Olympic victory.

Mie Hamada is a Japanese figure skating coach and former competitor. Personal life Hamada was born October 29, 1959 in Kyoto, Japan. She graduated from Doshisha University in 1983. Coaching career For many years, Hamada coached at the Kansai Univers ...

became her coach when Shiraiwa was six years old. She competed at the 2014–15 Japan Junior Championships but did not qualify for the free skate, having ranked 27th in the short program.

2015–2016 season

Shiraiwa debuted on the

(JGP) circuit during the 2015–16 season. At her first JGP assignment, in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, she placed fifth in the short program and first in the free skate, winning the gold medal by a margin of 8.06 points ahead of silver medalist

Marin Honda is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2016 World Junior champion, the 2017 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2017 World Junior silver medalist, the 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure ...

. Ranked third in the short and first in the free, she outscored Russia's

Alisa Fedichkina Alisa Andreyevna Fedichkina (, ''FYEH-deech-kee-nah''; born 14 February 2002) is a Russian competitive figure skater. She is the 2017 International Cup of Nice champion and has won two silver medals on the ISU Challenger Series. She received a sm ...

by 0.42 for gold at the JGP in

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

, Spain. Shiraiwa's results qualified her for the JGP Final in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. In November, Shiraiwa won the silver medal at the 2015-16 Japan Junior Championships behind

Wakaba Higuchi is a Japanese figure skater. She is a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships, 2018 World silver medalist, the 2024 Skate America champion, ...

. A month later, at the JGP Final, Shiraiwa finished 5th. Making her debut at the Japan Championships on the senior level, she placed 5th, and was named as a member of the Youth Olympic and the Junior World teams. At the 2016 Youth Olympics in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, Shiraiwa finished fourth, before going on to place fourth at the 2016 World Junior Championships in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

2016–17 season

Competing on the

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

, Shiraiwa finished fourth at the 2016 JGP Russia and won the silver at the 2016 JGP Germany. She went on to compete at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships, winning the silver medal behind

Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Ska ...

. At the senior nationals, Shiraiwa placed seventeenth in the short program but third in the free skate, ultimately moving up to sixth place overall. Selected to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Shiraiwa finished fifth.

2017–18 season

Making her senior international debut, Shiraiwa won the silver medal at the Asian Open Trophy. She then went on to compete at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy, where she finished seventh. Debuting on the senior

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

series, Shiraiwa finished eighth at the

2017 NHK Trophy The 2017 NHK Trophy was the 4th event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Osaka on November 10–12. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men ...

and sixth at the

2017 Internationaux de France The 2017 Internationaux de France was the 5th event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Patinoire Polesud in Grenoble on November 17–19. Medals ...

. At the 2017–18 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa placed ninth. She then closed her season with a bronze medal at the 2018 Coupe du Printemps.

2018–19 season

Shiraiwa began her season by winning silver at the

2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy The 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy was held from August 1–5, 2018, in Bangkok, Thailand. It was part of the 2018–19 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries ...

and placing fifth at the 2018 CS U.S. Classic. On the 2018–19 Grand Prix series, Shiraiwa finished fourth at the

2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki The 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki was held in Helsinki, Finland, from November 2–4. It was the third event of the 2018–2019 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational ...

and fifth at the

2018 Rostelecom Cup The 2018 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event of six in the 2018–19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held on November 16–18, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. Medals were awarded in ...

. At the 2018–19 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa finished ninth, before going on to win the 2019 Bavarian Open on the junior level. Selected to compete at the 2019 World Junior Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, Shiraiwa finished fifth.

2019–20 season

Competing on the 2019–20 Grand Prix series, Shiraiwa placed ninth at the

2019 Internationaux de France The 2019 Internationaux de France was the third event of the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Patinoire Polesud in Grenoble, France from November 1–3. Medal ...

and tenth at the

2019 Rostelecom Cup The 2019 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event of the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow, Russia from November 15–17. Medals wer ...

. She withdrew from the 2019–20 Japan Championships due to an injury in her right tibia.

2020–21 season

Shiraiwa finished ninth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships. Following the season, Shiraiwa left longtime coach

to train under

Takeshi Honda is a former Japanese competitive figure skater. He is a two-time World bronze medalist (2002, 2003), two-time Four Continents champion (1999, 2003), and six-time Japanese national champion. Personal life Takeshi Honda was born on 23 March 1 ...

2021–22 season

Competing at the 2021–22 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa finished twenty-third.

2022–23 season

Shiraiwa announced her intention to sit out the

2022–23 figure skating season The 2022–23 figure skating season began on July 1, 2022, and ended on June 30, 2023. During this season, elite skaters competed at the ISU (International Skating Union) Championship level at the 2023 European Championships, Four Continents Ch ...

in November to "physically and mentally recharge."

2023–24 season

Returning to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa finished in twenty-second place.

2024–25 season

Shiraiwa competed at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, where she finished nineteenth. Following the event, she announced her retirement from competitive figure skating.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Detailed results

''ISU Personal best highlighted in bold.''

Senior level

2019 Internationaux de France Friday ladies SP group 2 Yuna SHIRAIWA 8D9A7423

Junior level

2015 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Yuna Shiraiwa IMG 8739

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiraiwa, Yuna 2001 births Japanese female single skaters Kansai University alumni Living people Figure skaters from Kyoto Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics 21st-century Japanese sportswomen