Shunsuke Nakamura (figure skater) explained

Shunsuke Nakamura
Native Name:中村俊介
Native Name Lang:ja
Also Known As:Nakamura Shunsuke
Birth Date:8 June 2005
Birth Place:Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Hometown:Kyoto
Coach:Mie Hamada, Satsuki Muramoto, Hiroaki Sato, Noriyuki Kanzaki
Formercoach:Yuko Monna
Choreographer:Kaitlyn Weaver, Kana Muramoto
Formerchoreographer:Cathy Reed, Kenji Miyamoto, Tom Dickson
Skating Club:Kinoshita Academy
Currenttraininglocations:Kyoto
Formertraininglocations:Aichi
Beganskating:2010

is a Japanese figure skater. He is a five-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist and the 2023 Japanese Junior National champion.

Personal life

Nakamura was born on June 8, 2005, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. In 2024, Nakamura graduated from Chukyo High School. He then enrolled into the Faculty of Commerce at Doshisha University.

His figure skating idols are Daisuke Takahashi and Kazuki Tomono.

Career

Nakamura began figure skating in 2010 after following his older sister into the sport. He first trained at the Meito Figure Skating Club in Aichi and was coached by Yuko Monna.

He debuted as an advanced novice skater at the 2017 Asian Open Trophy, where he won the silver medal. He went on to win bronze at the 2017–18 Japan Advanced Novice Championships and place twenty-sixth at the 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships. He finished off that season with a silver medal on the advanced novice level of the 2018 Challenge Cup.

The following season, Nakamura won a silver medal at the Asian Open Trophy on the advanced novice level for a second consecutive time. He then won silver at the 2018–19 Japan Advanced Novice Championships, before finishing fourteenth at the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships. He ended the season with an advanced novice gold medal at the 2019 Coupe du Printemps.

Prior to the 2019–20 figure skating season, Nakamura moved to Takatsuki, Osaka to train under Mie Hamada at the Kansai University Skating Club. During that season, Nakamura finished fourteenth at the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships.

In spring 2020, Hamada transferred to the Kinoshita Academy Ice Arena in Kyoto. Nakamura, in turn, relocated to Kyoto as well to continue being coached by her.

The following season, Nakamura placed sixth 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships before debuting at the senior championships, where he finished seventeenth. The next year, Nakamura finished sixth at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships and twenty-fifth at the 2021–22 Japan Senior Championships, before ending the season with a gold medal on the junior level at the 2022 Challenge Cup.

2022–23 season

Nakamura debuted on the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning gold at the 2022 JGP France and silver at 2022 JGP Italy. With these results, Nakamura qualified for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. He went on to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fourth.

At the Junior Grand Prix final, Nakamura placed third in the short program but sixth in the free skate, dropping to fourth-place overall. One week later, he competed at the 2022–23 Japan Senior Championships where he finished eleventh. He ended the season by winning a gold medal on the junior level at the 2023 Triglav Trophy.

2023–24 season

Nakamura began the season by competing on 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix circuit. He first competed at 2023 JGP Japan where he finished a disappointing eighth place after placing second in the short program and twelfth in the free skate. He would see more success at 2023 JGP Armenia, where he won silver.

At the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships, Nakamura managed to win the gold medal, edging out Rio Nakata, who would go on to win the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final weeks later. Following the event, Nakamura said, "I'm happy to finally be able to win. I was nervous [about the free skate], but the practice I've been doing gave me confidence and I was able to get through it." With this result, Nakamura was selected to compete at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. The following month, Nakamura competed at the 2023–24 Japan Senior Championships, finishing in fourteenth-place.

At the World Junior Championships, Nakamura placed tenth in the short program but fourth in the free skate, finishing in fourth-place overall. Looking back on his season, Nakamura said, "It wasn't what I had imagined, and I wanted to achieve better results. It was a season with a lot to learn, and there were several competitions where I was doing well in practice, but not in the actual competition. But even in those situations, I was able to switch gears. I was able to gain a lot of experience outside of skating, and although the results weren't great, I think it was a really good season in terms of my personal growth."

2024–25 season

Nakamura started the season by competing on the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix circuit. He came fifth in the short program at the 2024 JGP Latvia, but moved up to third place after the free skate, claiming the bronze medal. Weeks later he won the silver medal at the 2024 JGP Turkey.

Programs

SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2024–2025
  • Lamentations of the Heart
  • lo Ci Saro
2023–2024
  • El Conquistador
  • Child of Nazareth
2022–2023
  • Sheik
2021–2022
  • Eye
  • Moonlight Sonata
2020–2021
  • Austrias

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International: Junior
Event17–1818–1919–2020–2121–2222–2323–2424–25
align=left 4th
align=left 4th
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left 8th
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st J
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st J
National
Japan17th 25th 11th 14th
Japan Junior26th 14th 14th 6th 6th 4th 1st

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

Senior level

2023–24 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
December 20–24, 20232023–24 Japan Championshipsalign=center 9
80.16
align=center 19
127.54
align=center 14
207.70
2022–23 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
December 21–25, 20222022–23 Japan Championshipsalign=center 8
77.74
align=center 10
140.34
align=center 11
218.08
2021–22 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
December 22–26, 20212021–22 Japan Championshipsalign=center 25
52.78
align=center align=center 25
52.78
2020–21 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
December 23–27, 20202020–21 Japan Championshipsalign=center 18
63.97
align=center 16
120.04
align=center 17
184.01

Junior level

2024–25 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
September 18–21, 20242024 JGP Turkeyalign=center 2
75.59
align=center 3
129.90
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
205.49
August 28–31, 20242024 JGP Latviaalign=center 5
68.39
align=center 3
144.34
align=center bgcolor=cc9966 3
212.73
2023–24 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
February 26–March 3, 20242024 World Junior Championshipsalign=center 10
72.85
align=center 4
142.61
align=center 4
215.46
November 17–19, 20232023–24 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 1
76.81
align=center 2
135.61
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
212.42
October 4–7, 20232023 JGP Armeniaalign=center 2
77.30
align=center 3
137.37
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
214.67
September 13–16, 20232023 JGP Japanalign=center 2
74.04
align=center 12
113.84
align=center 8
187.88
2022–23 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
April 13–16, 20232023 Triglav Trophyalign=center 1
74.67
align=center 1
122.76
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
197.43
December 8–December 11, 20222022–23 Junior Grand Prix Finalalign=center 3
74.81
align=center 6
123.83
align=center 4
198.64
November 25–27, 20222022–23 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 3
70.28
align=center 5
126.64
align=center 4
196.92
October 12–15, 2022align=center 2
73.61
align=center 1
137.40
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
211.01
August 24–27, 20222022 JGP Francealign=center 1
77.68
align=center 1
141.97
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
219.65
2021–22 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
February 24–27, 20222022 Challenge Cupalign=center 1
78.33
align=center 2
133.54
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
211.87
November 19–21, 20212021–22 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 4
67.42
align=center 6
112.71
align=center 6
180.13
2020–21 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
November 21–23, 20202020–21 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 8
66.58
align=center 6
115.65
align=center 6
182.23
2019–20 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
November 15–17, 20192019–20 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 16
57.80
align=center 13
107.13
align=center 14
164.93
2018–19 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
November 23–25, 20182018–19 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 16
48.97
align=center 11
100.48
align=center 14
149.45
2017–18 season
DateEventSPFSTotal
November 24–26, 20172017–18 Japan Junior Championshipsalign=center 26
38.86
align=center align=center 26
38.86

External links