is a former Japanese competitive

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 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 1981 in Kōriyama, Fukushima, Japan. He plays the piano.

Career

Honda began

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

at the age of six with his brother and switched to figure skating at nine. At 12, when he entered junior high school, he moved to

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

to train with Hiroshi Nagakubo. Although he started the training somewhat late, he caught up very quickly and was, at 14, the youngest senior national champion in Japan ever. In December 1997, Honda left

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 ...

to train with

Galina Zmievskaya Galina Yakovlevna Zmievskaya (russian: Галина Яковлевна Змиевская, uk, Галина Яківна Змієвська, ''Halyna Yakivna Zmievs'ka'') (born 1952) is a Ukrainian-American figure skating coach in the United Stat ...

at the International Skating Center in

Simsbury, Connecticut Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, the ...

. He represented Japan at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

in Nagano, where he finished 15th. Following the 1998 Skate Canada International, Honda moved to

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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 ...

to work with

Doug Leigh Douglas Leigh is a Canadians, Canadian figure skating coach. He is the head coach and founder of the Mariposa School of Skating. Among his former students are Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko, Takeshi Honda, Jennifer Robinson (figure skater), Jennifer R ...

. He became the first Four Continents champion in history when he won the inaugural event in 1999. In 2002, Honda won the bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships and finished in 4th place at the Winter Olympics. He was the first male skater from Japan to medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

since Minoru Sano took the bronze in 1977. Honda withdrew from the 2005 World Championships after injuring his ankle in a fall during the qualifying segment. Honda ended his competitive career and turned to show skating in March 2006. He is also a TV commentator. He resides in

Takatsuki is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is located in northern Osaka's Hokusetsu region. As of 2020, the city had an estimated population of 347,944 and a population density of 3,300 persons per km². The total area is 105.31 km². The c ...

city,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

to coach

Daisuke Takahashi is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule ...

(as a technical coach) and

Kansai University , abbreviated as or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as Kansai Law School in 1886, It has been recognized as one of t ...

Skating club. He also coached

Mai Asada Mai, or MAI, may refer to: Names * Mai (Chinese surname) * Mai (Vietnamese surname) * Mai (name) * Mai (singer), J-Pop singer * Iris Mai (born 1962), German chess master Places * Chiang Mai, largest city in northern Thailand * Ma-i, a pre-Hi ...

Programs

Results

''GP: Champions Series/Grand Prix''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honda, Takeshi Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Japanese male single skaters Living people 1981 births Olympic figure skaters of Japan Sportspeople from Fukushima Prefecture World Figure Skating Championships medalists Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Asian Games medalists in figure skating Figure skaters at the 2003 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2003 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Figure skating commentators Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics