Mako Yamashita ( ja, 山下真瑚; born December 31, 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 Skate Canada silver medalist and a two-time medalist at the ISU Challenger Series. On the junior level, she is the 2018 World Junior bronze medalist, a four-time medalist on the

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 junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

series, and the 2017–18 Japanese junior national silver medalist.

Personal life

Yamashita was born on 31 December 2002 in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan.

Career

2016–2017 season

Yamashita won two bronze medals at the

series.

2017–2018 season

In September 2017, Yamashita won the bronze medal at the

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

behind

Anastasia Tarakanova Anastasia Anatolyevna Tarakanova (russian: Анастасия Анатольевна Тараканова; born 14 April 2004) is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 2017 JGP Austria and 2018 JGP Slovenia champion, and the 2017–18 J ...

(Russia) and

Lim Eun-soo Lim Eun-soo (Hangul: 임은수; born February 26, 2003) is a South Korean figure skater. She is the 2018 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist, the two-time CS Asian Open champion (2018, 2019), the 2018 CS U.S. Classic silver medalist, and the 2017 ...

(South Korea). She then won the silver medal at her next JGP event, held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, behind

Sofia Samodurova Sofia Vyacheslavovna Samodurova (pronounced ''Sah-moh-DOO-roh-vah''; russian: Софья Вячеславовна Самодурова; born 30 July 2002) is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 2019 European champion, the 2019 CS Ice ...

(Russia).

Photos – Junior World Championships 2018 – Ladies (Medalists) (19)

In March 2018, Yamashita won the bronze medal at the

2018 World Junior Figure Skating Championships The 2018 World Junior Figure Skating Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 5–11 March 2018. Records The following new junior records were set during this competition: Qualification Minimum TES The ISU stipulates that the ...

2018–2019 season: Senior debut

In August 2018, Yamashita won the bronze medal at the 2018 CS Asian Trophy, behind

and

Yuna Shiraiwa is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 CS Asian Open silver medalist, the 2017 Asian Trophy silver medalist, and the 2018 Coupe du Printemps bronze medalist. Earlier in her career, she won gold medals at two ISU Junior Grand Prix ev ...

. In September, she also won the bronze medal at the

2018 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy was held in September 2018 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2018–19 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Entries The ...

, behind

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Elizaveta Sergeyevna Tuktamysheva ( ; rus, Елизавета Серге́евна Туктамышева, , jɪlʲɪzɐˈvʲetə tʊktɐˈmɨʂɨvə; born 17 December 1996) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2015 World champion, the 202 ...

and

. In October, Yamashita debuted on the ISU Grand Prix series in the 2018–19 season. She won the silver medal at 2018 Skate Canada behind

and ahead of

Evgenia Medvedeva Evgenia Armanovna Medvedeva (alt. spelling: Yevgenia Medvedeva; rus, Евгения Армановна Медведева, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪjə mʲɪˈdvʲedʲɪvə; born 19 November 1999), is a competitive Russian figure skater. She is a tw ...

, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist. She then competed at

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 ...

, where she placed seventh.

2019–2020 season

Yamashita began the season with a sixth place at the

2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial The 2019 CS Nepela Memorial, formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, was held in September 2019 at the Ondrej Nepela Arena. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' ...

. She finished twelfth out of twelve skaters at the 2019 Skate America. Yamashita fared better at the

2019 NHK Trophy The 2019 NHK Trophy was the sixth event of the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, Japan from November 22–24. Medals were award ...

, where she placed fifth. At the 2019–20 Japanese Championships, Yamashita was fifth in the short program but dropped to eleventh place overall after finishing sixteenth in the free skate.

2020–2021 season

Yamashita was invited to be a part of Team Red at the Japan Open after the withdrawal of

Marin Honda is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2016 World Junior champion, the 2017 World Junior silver medalist, the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2016–17 Japanese Junior National bronze medalist. She is the former ...

. Competing domestically, she placed sixth at Western Sectionals. With the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

prompting the ISU to assign the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

based primarily on geographic location to limit international travel, Yamashita was assigned to compete at the

2020 NHK Trophy The 2020 NHK Trophy was the sixth event in the 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Osaka Prefectural Kadoma Sports Center (Towa Pharmaceutical Ractab Dome) in Os ...

as part of a field of Japanese skaters and South Korea's

You Young You Young (Hangul: 유영; born May 27, 2004) is a South Korean figure skater. She is the 2020 Four Continents silver medalist, a four-time Grand Prix bronze medalist, a four-time Challenger series medalist, and a five-time South Korean n ...

. She placed third in the short program. In the free skate, Yamashita attempted a quad Salchow in international competition for the first time, landing it with a full downgrade, as well as making errors on two other jumps. She dropped to fifth place overall. Yamashita placed thirteenth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.

2021–2022 season

Yamashita placed thirteenth for the second consecutive year at the 2021–22 Japan Championships.

2022–2023 season

Yamashita placed sixteenth at the 2022–23 Japan Championships.

Programs

Competitive highlights

Photos – Junior World Championships 2018 – Ladies (Medalists) (1)

''GP:

; CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

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 ...

2012–13 to 2015–16

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level

Photos – Junior World Championships 2018 – Ladies (Mako YAMASHITA JPN – Bronze Medal) (16)

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.'' *Personal best highlighted in bold.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamashita, Mako Living people 2002 births Japanese female single skaters Figure skaters from Nagoya World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists