is a Japanese

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. With his skating partner, Ayumi Takanami, he is the 2022 Japanese national bronze medalist. With his former skating partner, Utana Yoshida, he is a two-time Japanese national junior ice dance champion (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

) and a

2020 Winter Youth Olympics The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2020; french: Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse d'hiver de 2020; it, Giochi olimpici giovanili invernali del 2020; rm, Gieus olimpics da giuvenils d'enviern 2020), offic ...

champion in the team event.

Personal life

Shingo Nishiyama was born on January 24, 2002, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He has an older sister. Nishiyama's favorite subjects in school are Japanese history and world history. He attended Hinode Gakuen, a

correspondence school Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

recommended by fellow Japanese ice dancer

Aru Tateno Aru Tateno ( ja, 立野在; born August 29, 1997) is a retired Japanese ice dancer. With his former skating partner, Rikako Fukase, he has competed in the final segment at three ISU Championships. The duo placed 19th at the 2016 World Junior C ...

. Nishiyama was accepted into

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

's School of Human Sciences to study sports education and psychology, as he wants to become a skating coach. He is related to Japanese ballerina

Akane Takada is a Japanese ballerina and a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. Her lead roles have included the title role in '' Giselle'', Nikiya in La Bayadère, Kitri in ''Don Quixote'', and Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. Early life ...

through his mother's side and has worked with her on improving body movement. Nishiyama has admired

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), a two-time World champion (2014, 2017), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), the 2020 Four Continents champion, the 2010 World J ...

since he was in elementary school.

Career

Early career

Nishiyama began skating in 2008 at the age of six, at the suggestion of his first coach Masahiro Kawagoe, who saw him attending a lesson at

Citizens' Plaza Citizens' Plaza (or Citizen's Plaza) is an urban plaza in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Public art Artworks installed in the plaza include: * ''Adam Y Eva (Junkanmutan)'' (Munehiro Ikeda) * ''Blacken Sproute'' ( Churyo Sato) * ''Column of Four Square ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. He previously trained with Yutaka Higuchi in

, and qualified to compete at the Japan Championships each year. He was invited to skate in the gala at the 2013 World Team Trophy as the Japanese national novice champion in the same season. Nishiyama moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

alone at age 14 to train with

Brian Orser Brian Ernest Orser, (born 18 December 1961) is a Canadian former competitive and professional figure skater and coach to Olympic champions. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medallist, 1987 World champion and eight-time (1981–88) Can ...

Tracy Wilson Tracy Wilson, (born September 25, 1961) is a Canadian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Rob McCall, she won the Canadian national championship seven times (1982–1988), is a three-time World bronze medallist, and the 1988 Olympic ...

, and Ghislain Briand at the

Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club The Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club is a private sport and social club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club offers a variety of sporting and social programs including aquatics, cricket, croquet, curling, figure skating, fitne ...

, despite not knowing the language. After he suffered a hip injury in the fall of 2018 and was unable to practice jumps, another coach at the club, Andrew Hallam, suggested that he consider switching to ice dance. Despite Nishiyama's initial reluctance to switch disciplines, he drew inspiration from Japanese sprinter

Dai Tamesue is the first Japanese sprinter to win a medal in a track event at a World Competition. Current Japanese record holder for Men’s 400 meter hurdle (as of July 2021). Bronze medalist of the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton and 2005 World Cham ...

's book to adjust his mindset. Nishiyama teamed up with Utana Yoshida in early 2019 after a tryout arranged by the

Japan Skating Federation The Japan Skating Federation ( ja, 日本スケート連盟) is the sports governing body of Japan for figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in 1929. The current president (since 2019) is Akihisa Nagashima, a ...

in the fall of 2018, and she moved to train with him and his coaches at the

in February 2019. He continues to train singles simultaneously with ice dance.

2019–2020 season

In their first season as a partnership, Yoshida/Nishiyama placed sixth at both 2019 JGP United States and 2019 JGP Italy. They then won gold at the Western Sectional and advanced to the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, where they again won gold, ahead of Ayumi Takanami / Yoshimitsu Ikeda. As a result, Yoshida/Nishiyama were assigned to the 2020 World Junior Championships and the

. They were invited to skate in the gala 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 ...

as junior national champion. At the

, Yoshida / Nishiyama placed sixth in the ice dance event with a new personal best, following a sixth-place rhythm dance and a fourth-place free dance. They were chosen by draw to be part of Team Courage for the mixed-NOC team event, alongside singles' skaters Arlet Levandi of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and

Ksenia Sinitsyna Kseniia Alexeyevna Sinitsyna (russian: Ксения Алексеевна Синицына; born 5 August 2004) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2020 Youth Olympic silver medalist, the 2020 Youth Olympic Champion in the team event, the ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and pairs team

Alina Butaeva Alina Butaeva ( ka, ალინა ბუთაევა, born 9 December 2005) is a Georgian pair skater. With her former partner, Luka Berulava, she won two medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics − bronze in pairs and gold in the team event ...

Luka Berulava Luka Berulava (russian: Лука Берулава; ka, ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Georgian pair skater, who currently competes with Anastasia Metelkina. Together they are two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix go ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Yoshida/Nishiyama won the free dance portion of the team event, ahead of both the silver and bronze medalists from the individual ice dance event, to help Team Courage win the gold medal. Yoshida/Nishiyama set a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships. They placed twelfth in Tallinn.

2020–2021 season

Due to 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 identif ...

, 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 ...

, where Yoshida/Nishiyama would have competed, was cancelled. In November, they won their second consecutive junior national title at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships. Yoshida/Nishiyama announced their split in January 2021. Nishiyama indicated that he would continue in ice dance, rather than returning to singles. In March 2021, he announced his new partnership with fellow Waseda University skater Ayumi Takanami.

2021–2022 season

Takanami/Nishiyama made their competitive debut at the 2021–22 Japan Championships, winning the bronze medal.

2022–2023 season

Nishiyama competed in the men's singles during the 2022-23 season but will be aiming for the Olympics in ice dance starting in the 2023-24 season. On 6 May 2023, Nishiyama announced that he and former Japanese single skater

Azusa Tanaka Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' * Azusa, California, a city in the United States * Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California *Azusa Street R ...

were a new ice dance team and would be training at the Ice Academy of Montreal in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Programs

With Yoshida

Men's singles

Competitive highlights

''JGP:

Ice dance with Takanami

Ice dance with Yoshida

Men's singles

Detailed results

With Yoshida

Junior results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishiyama, Shingo 2002 births Living people Japanese male ice dancers Japanese male single skaters Sportspeople from Tokyo Figure skaters at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics