Tomoki Richard Hiwatashi (born January 20, 2000) is an American
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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
. He is the
2018 CS Inge Solar Memorial – Alpen Trophy
The 2018 CS Inge Solar Memorial – Alpen Trophy was held in November 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It is part of the 2018–19 ISU Challenger Series. Medals will be awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ...
bronze medalist and a two-time
U.S. national
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
medalist.
He is also the
2019 World Junior champion, the
2016 World Junior bronze medalist, a five-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
2016 U.S. junior national champion.
Personal life
Hiwatashi was born on January 20, 2000, in
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...
.
[ His mother, Satomi, and father, Satoshi Hiwatashi,][ are both from ]Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, Japan.[ He was raised with two sisters.][ For much of his early life, he lived in the ]Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
suburb Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates is a village (Illinois), village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, with a small section in Kane County, Illinois, Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2 ...
. He currently trains and resides most of his time in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
.
Career
Early career
Hiwatashi began skating at age five after a rink opened near his house.[ He competed on the juvenile level during the 2008–2009 season, placing fourth at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships. Continuing as a juvenile in 2009–2010, he won the bronze medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals before finishing sixth at the 2010 U.S. Championships. During the 2010–2011 season, he won the juvenile gold medal at both the Upper Great Lakes Regionals and the 2011 U.S. Championships.
In 2011–2012, Hiwatashi moved up to the intermediate level, winning the gold medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals and the 2012 U.S. Championships. He advanced to the novice level in ]2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, winning the gold medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals, the Midwestern Sectionals, and the 2013 U.S. Championships.
Coached by Alexandre Fadeev
Alexandre Vladimirovich "Sasha" Fadeev (russian: Александр Владимирович Фадеев; born 4 January 1964) is a Russian former competitive Figure skating, figure skater who represented the Soviet Union. Fadeyev is the 1985 ...
in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
,[ Hiwatashi was scheduled to make his ]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 ...
(JGP) debut in Mexico in early September 2013 but sustained a medial malleolus fracture in his left foot during an official practice at the competition. As a result, he missed the rest of the 2013–2014 season.
2014–2015 season
Hiwatashi competed on the junior level during the 2014–2015 season. He won the bronze medal at the Midwestern Sectionals and placed fifth at the 2015 U.S. Championships. He ended his season with the junior gold medal at the International Challenge Cup
The International Challenge Cup (formerly the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held during the last week in February, up till the 2021 edition held in The Hague, Netherlands. Since the 2022 e ...
.
2015–2016 season
In 2015–2016, Hiwatashi debuted on the JGP series, placing fifth in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
before winning the bronze medal 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, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
, Croatia. He won the junior silver medal at the Midwestern Sectionals, finishing second to Alexei Krasnozhon
Alexei Dmitriyevich Krasnozhon (russian: Алексей Дмитриевич Красножон; born April 11, 2000) is a Russian-American former competitive figure skater. Competing for the United States, he is the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy silv ...
, and went on to become the junior national champion, outscoring Kevin Shum by 14.78 points for gold at the 2016 U.S. Championships. Later that month, he was selected to replace the injured Nathan Chen
Nathan Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skater. He is the 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion ( 2018, 2019, 2021), the 2017 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion ( 2017, 2018, 2019), a ...
at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...
, Hungary.[
In March at the World Junior Championships, he placed sixth in the short program and third in the free skate to win the bronze medal behind ]Daniel Samohin
Daniel Samohin ( he, דניאל סמוכין; born 12 March 1998) is an Israeli figure skater. He is the 2016 World Junior champion, and has won two ISU Challenger Series medals, including a gold medal at the 2015 U.S. International Classic. Sa ...
of Israel and Nicolas Nadeau
Nicolas Nadeau (born September 30, 1997) is a Canadian competitive figure skater. As a singles skater, he is the 2016 World Junior silver medallist and the 2015 Canadian national junior champion.
Personal life
Nadeau was born on September 30 ...
of Canada. He was coached by Alexander Ouriashev in Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census.
History
Glen Ellyn, like the neighboring town to the east, Lomba ...
.[
]
2016–2017 season
Hiwatashi started his season at 2016 JGP Saint-Gervais, where he placed sixth. He competed at the 2016 CS Warsaw Cup
The 2016 CS Warsaw Cup was a senior international figure skating competition, held in November 2016 in Warsaw, Poland. It was part of the 2016–17 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, p ...
, placing ninth, and finished fifteenth at the 2017 U.S. Championships on the senior level. During the season, he was coached by Kori Ade in Monument, Colorado
The Town of Monument is a Home rule town situated at the base of the Rampart Range in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Monument is one of the three communities that make up the Tri-Lakes area (along with Palmer Lake and Woodmoor). Th ...
.[
]
2017–2018 season
Hiwatashi won two bronze medals on the 2017 JGP circuit at 2017 JGP Riga and 2017 JGP Egna. At the 2018 U.S. Championships, he placed fifteenth in the short program, seventh in the free skate, and twelfth overall. He finished seventh at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, Bulgaria. By the end of the season, he was training under Christine Krall and Damon Allen
Damon L. Allen (born July 29, 1963) is a former professional quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is currently fourth in all-time professional football passing yards and second in all-time CFL passing yards after he ...
in Colorado.[
]
2018–2019 season
In September 2018, Hiwatashi won the silver medal at the 2018 JGP Canada, behind Petr Gumennik. He won another silver medal at his second event, the 2018 JGP Slovenia. These results qualified Hiwatashi to the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final in Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, 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 ...
. He next competed on the senior level at the 2018 CS Alpen Trophy, where he won the bronze medal. Concluding the fall season at the Junior Grand Prix Final, he placed sixth overall after struggling in both programs.
At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hiwatashi won the Pewter medal.[
Due to US national champion Nathan Chen's schedule conflicting with the 2019 Four Continents Championships, Hiwatashi made his senior ISU Championship debut after being named to the Four Continents team with ]Vincent Zhou
Vincent Zhou (born October 25, 2000) is an American figure skater. He is a 2022 Olympic Games team event silver medalist, a two-time World bronze medalist (2019, 2022), the 2019 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champ ...
and Jason Brown. He set a new personal best score and placed eighth.[
In his final event of the season, Hiwatashi competed at the 2019 World Junior Championships alongside countrymen ]Alexei Krasnozhon
Alexei Dmitriyevich Krasnozhon (russian: Алексей Дмитриевич Красножон; born April 11, 2000) is a Russian-American former competitive figure skater. Competing for the United States, he is the 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy silv ...
and Camden Pulkinen
Camden Pulkinen (born March 25, 2000) is an American figure skater. He competed at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics and is the first male figure skater to compete on behalf of Team USA in the men's singles event at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. ...
. He placed second in the short program, briefly holding the junior world record until it was reclaimed minutes later by Pulkinen.[ In the free skate, he placed second behind Russian competitor ]Roman Savosin
Roman Andreyevich Savosin (russian: Роман Андреевич Савосин, born 4 December 1999) is a Russian figure skater. He is the 2019 Junior World silver medalist, the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy champion, 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memoria ...
after cleanly landing a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination but popping a second planned quadruple toe loop to a double toe loop. However, his strong placement in the short program combined with his performance in the free skate allowed him to claim victory overall, and he became the World Junior Champion, ahead of Savosin and bronze medalist Daniel Grassl
Daniel Grassl (born 4 April 2002) is an Italian figure skater. He is the 2022 European silver medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy champion, the 2019 World Junior bronze medalist, and a four-time Italian national champion (2019–2022). ...
of Italy.[
]
2019–2020 season
Hiwatashi began his first full senior season with a fifth-place finish at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. Making this debut on the senior Grand Prix 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 ...
, Hiwatashi placed tenth in the short program after multiple jump errors but rose to fifth place overall in the free skate.[
Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Hiwatashi placed fifth in the short program with a clean skate.][ Third in the free skate, he won the bronze medal, standing on the senior national podium for the second time.][ Despite placing third, he was not chosen for one of America's three berths at the 2020 World Championships, the third spot going to reigning World bronze medalist ]Vincent Zhou
Vincent Zhou (born October 25, 2000) is an American figure skater. He is a 2022 Olympic Games team event silver medalist, a two-time World bronze medalist (2019, 2022), the 2019 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champ ...
, who finished slightly under three points behind Hiwatashi in fourth. Hiwatashi was instead assigned to compete at the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
.[ He placed ninth at Four Continents.][
]
2020–2021 season
With the coronavirus 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 identified ...
raging, Hiwatashi was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate America
The 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America was the first event in the 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 23–24. Med ...
, the ISU having made 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 ...
assignments based primarily on geography.[ Hiwatashi placed fourth at the event, despite a fall and a singled jump in the free skate.][
Competing at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, Hiwatashi placed seventh.][
]
2021–2022 season
Hiwatashi began his season at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy
The 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy Memorial Anna Grandolfi was held on September 10–12, 2021 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice dan ...
, where he placed fifth.[ He was eleventh to start 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 ...
at 2021 Skate Canada International
The 2021 Skate Canada International was the second event in the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, Bri ...
.[ At his second event, the ]2021 NHK Trophy
The 2021 NHK Trophy was the fourth event in the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo on November 12–14. Medals were award ...
, he placed ninth. After the free skate, Hiwatashi said he "wanted to focus on doing my three quads, and I was able to do that."[
Scheduled to compete at the 2022 U.S. Championships in hopes of qualifying for the American Olympic team, Hiwatashi was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID test.][ Despite this, he was named to the American team for the 2022 Four Continents Championships in ]Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, where he was eighth.[
]
2022–2023 season
After winning the silver medal at the Skating Club of Boston
The Skating Club of Boston is a not-for-profit figure skating club based in Norwood, Massachusetts. Founded in 1912, it is one of the oldest skating clubs in the United States, and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for ...
's Cranberry Cup, Hiwatashi competed twice on 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 ...
, finishing ninth at the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy
The 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy was the fourth event in the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the IceSheffield in Sheffield on November 11–13. It was the repl ...
and then twelfth at the 2022 NHK Trophy.[
]
Skating technique
Unlike most skaters, Hiwatashi jumps and spins clockwise. He also can perform the Biellmann spin
The Biellmann spin is a difficult variation of the layback spin in figure skating. It was made popular by world champion Denise Biellmann.
Description
The Biellmann spin is a difficult variation of the layback spin in figure skating. It is exe ...
, an element rarely performed by men due to the flexibility it requires.[
]
Programs
Competitive highlights
''GP: 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 ...
; 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 ...
. Pewter medals (4th place) awarded only at U.S. national, sectional, and regional events.''
2013–2014 to present
2008–2009 to 2012–2013
Detailed results
Senior level
''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Pewter medals (fourth place) awarded only at U.S. domestic events. Current ISU world bests highlighted in bold and italic. Personal bests highlighted in'' bold''.''
Junior level
''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.''
References
External links
*
Tomoki Hiwatashi
at U.S. Figure Skating
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee "USOPC" under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act an ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiwatashi, Tomoki
2000 births
American male single skaters
Living people
People from Englewood, New Jersey
American sportspeople of Japanese descent
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists