is a Japanese curler. She currently plays

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

for Team

Loco Solare The is a curling club in Tokoro Town, Kitami City, Hokkaido Island, Japan. The club has about 40 teams, including a team . Background Hokkaido Island, Japan and Alberta, Canada became sister province in 1980. Then, curling was introduced to ...

, which is skipped by

Satsuki Fujisawa is a Japanese curler from Kitami, Hokkaido. As a skip, she has won the Japanese national championship six times. Fujisawa skipped the bronze medal-winning Japanese team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the silver medal-winning team at t ...

. The team won the bronze medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Career

Yoshida was a member of a team, "Tokoro Junior High school Robins", with

Chinami Yoshida is a Japanese curler. She currently plays third for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Yoshida began curl ...

Yumi Suzuki is a Japanese curler. She currently plays second for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Suzuki was a memb ...

, and

Kaho Onodera is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the third on the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan at three World Women's Curling Ch ...

. They were the Hokkaido representative at the Japan Curling Championships, where they ranked third in both 2006 and 2007. Yoshida and teammates

Mari Motohashi is a Japanese curler. Career Motohashi was a member of Team Aomori which represented Japan at two Winter Olympics (2006 and 2010). She threw second stones for Ayumi Onodera at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finishing 7th, and played second for Moe ...

and Yumi Suzuki added former skip Chinami Yoshida to their team at third for the 2014–15 season. With the team, she won her first

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from John ...

title at the 2014 Avonair Cash Spiel. Later that season, at the national championships, they lost the final against the Ogasawara rink to miss a berth to the world championships. In May 2015, the Motohashi rink added

, a four-time Japanese champion skip. Motohashi moved from skip to alternate because of her pregnancy, and Fujisawa took over the rink of third Chinami Yoshida, second Yumi Suzuki, and led Yurika Yoshida. During the 2015-16 season, her team of

, and

had success internationally as Japan's national team, winning gold at the

2015 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships The 2015 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships were held from November 7 to 14 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The top two teams from the men's and women's tournaments qualified for the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship ...

and a silver at the

2016 World Women's Curling Championship The 2016 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as the 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championship presented by Meridian for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 19 to 27 at the Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Team S ...

, which was Japan's first-ever world championship medal. Meanwhile, domestically, Yoshida with the team won her first national championship title at the 2016 Japan Curling Championships. The team would win a bronze medal at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and a silver at the

2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships The 2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships was held 2–8 November in Erina, New South Wales, Australia. The top three teams from the men's and women's tournaments qualified for the 2018 World Men's Curling Championship and 2018 Ford World Wome ...

. They also won a bronze medal at the

2017 Asian Winter Games The 2017 Asian Winter Games ( ja, 2017アジア冬季競技大会, 2017 Ajia tōkikyōgitaikai) was the 8th edition of the Asian Winter Games. They were hosted in Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido, Japan. These Games were originally scheduled fo ...

. Yoshida was part of the Japanese team that won the 2018 Olympics women curling bronze medal. Yoshida again represented Japan at the 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. Her team went an undefeated 6–0 record in the round robin but lost to the Koreans (skipped by Kim Min-ji) in the final. The next month, she represented Japan in the second leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup in Omaha,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which her team would end up winning, this time defeating Kim and her South Korean rink in the final. Team Fujisawa began the 2019–20 season at the 2019 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic, where they lost in the final to

Jiang Yilun Jiang Yilun (; born 12 February 1993) is a Chinese curler from Harbin.2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide Career She competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where the Chinese team participated in the women's cur ...

. Next, they won the ADVICS Cup. They had two more playoff appearances at their next two events, the Booster Juice Shoot-Out and the 2019 Colonial Square Ladies Classic, where they had semifinal and quarterfinal finishes, respectively. Next, they had a semifinal finish at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic. In

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

play, they made the quarterfinals at the Masters and the semifinals of the Tour Challenge,

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and Canadian Open. They had two more playoff appearances on tour at the Red Deer Curling Classic, where they lost in the quarterfinals, and the

Karuizawa International The Karuizawa International Curling Championships is a curling bonspiel held annually since the 1998 Winter Olympics, Olympic Games in Nagano at the Kazakoshi Park Arena, SCAP Karuizawa Arena in Karuizawa, Nagano, Kariuzawa, Japan. The bonspiel i ...

, where they lost the final to Anna Sidorova. For the first time in four seasons, Team Fujisawa won the

Japan Curling Championships The Japan Curling Championships ('' ja, 日本カーリング選手権'') are the annual Japanese men's and women's curling championships, organized by the Japan Curling Association (JCA). The winners get to represent Japan at the men's and wome ...

, defeating Seina Nakajima in the final. The team was set to represent Japan at the

2020 World Women's Curling Championship The 2020 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship presented by Nature's Bounty for sponsorship reasons) was scheduled to be held from March 14 to 22 at the CN Centre in Prince George, Canada. O ...

before the event got cancelled 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 identi ...

. The Japanese Championship would be their last event of the season as both the

Players' Championship The Players' Championship is one of the final events on the World Curling Tour (WCT) and is a part of the Grand Slam of Curling. From 2016 to 2019, it was the penultimate slam of the curling season, and the last of the four "majors". The even ...

and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were also cancelled due to the pandemic. Team Fujisawa played in no

events during the abbreviated 2020–21 season as there were no events held in Japan or Asia. The team would compete in their national championship, held from February 7–14, 2021 in

Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of 1 ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, as the defending champions. After an unblemished 6–0 round robin record, the team defeated Team

Sayaka Yoshimura is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the skip of the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling ...

Hokkaido Bank is a Japanese bank that is headquartered in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. The Hokkaido Bank is a subsidiary of the Hokuhoku Financial Group as a result of a merger with the Hokuriku Bank on September 1, 2004. The Hokkaido Bank has 134 domestic branc ...

to advance to the final where they would once again face Yoshimura. Down one in the tenth, Team Yoshimura scored two points to win the national championship 7–6 over Team Fujisawa. This meant that once again, the team would not get to represent Japan at the World Championships. Team Fujisawa ended their season at the 2021 Champions Cup and

2021 Players' Championship The 2021 Princess Auto Players' Championship was held April 20–25, 2021 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it was announced that both the Players' Championship a ...

Grand Slam events, which were played in a "curling bubble" in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, with no spectators, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. The team had quarterfinal finishes at both events, losing out to

Rachel Homan Rachel Catherine Homan (born April 5, 1989) is a Canadian international curler. Homan is a former Canadian junior champion, a three-time Canadian national champion, and the 2017 world champion, all as a skip. She was also the skip of the Can ...

at the Champions Cup and Anna Hasselborg at the Players'. In their first event of the 2021–22 season, Team Fujisawa finished runner-up at the 2021 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic. They then played in the 2021 Japanese Olympic Curling Trials, which were held in a best-of-five contest between the Fujisawa and

rinks. After losing the first two games, Team Fujisawa rattled off three straight victories to win the trials and earn the right to represent Japan at the 2021 Olympic Qualification Event. There, the team finished third in the round robin and then defeated South Korea to secure their spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics. At the Games, Team Fujisawa led Japan to a 5–4 round robin record, enough to qualify as the fourth seeds in the playoff round. They then defeated the number one seeds in Switzerland's

Silvana Tirinzoni Silvana Petra Tirinzoni (born 25 June 1979) is a Swiss curler from Zurich. She is currently the reigning women's world champion skip having won the last three championships, in 2019, 2021 and . Tirinzoni also represented Switzerland at the 2022 ...

to advance to the Olympic final, where they would face Great Britain's

Eve Muirhead Eve Muirhead (born 22 April 1990) is a Scottish former curler from Perth and the skip of the British Olympic Curling team. Muirhead and the GB team became Olympic champions at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the br ...

. The team could not keep their momentum going in the final, however, dropping the match 10–3, earning the silver medal. Elsewhere on tour for the season, Team Fujisawa lost in the final of the

2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic The 2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic was held from October 8 to 11 at the Calgary Curling Club in Calgary, Alberta. The event was held in a triple-knockout format with a purse of $44,000. After dropping into the C Event, the Unit ...

after a previously undefeated record. In November, they went undefeated to claim the Red Deer Curling Classic. In Grand Slam play, they only qualified in one of three events they played in, the 2022 Players' Championship, where they reached the quarterfinals. The team wrapped up their season at the

2022 Japan Curling Championships The 2022 Japan Curling Championships (branded as the 39th Zen-Noh Japan Curling Championships) were held from May 22 to 29 at the Tokoro Curling Club in Tokoro, Hokkaido, Tokoro, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. Both the men's and women's events were pla ...

. There, they went 7–1 through the round robin and won the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game over

. They then defeated the

Ikue Kitazawa is a Japanese curler from Saku, Nagano. She is the skip of the Chubu Electric Power curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2017 and 2019. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's ...

Chubu Electric Power , abbreviated as Chuden in Japanese, is a Japanese electric utilities provider for the middle Chūbu region of the Honshu island of Japan. It provides electricity at 60 Hz, though an area of Nagano Prefecture uses 50 Hz. Chubu Electric ...

team 7–3 in the final to claim the national title.

Personal life

Yoshida is an office worker at the Kitami Dermatology Clinic. She currently lives in

Tokoro is a small town, once was an independent administrative division located in Tokoro District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan. On March 5, 2006, the division, along with the towns of Rubeshibe and Tanno (all f ...

.2018 Continental Cup Media Guide She is the sister of curler

Teams

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Yurika 1993 births Living people Japanese female curlers Sportspeople from Hokkaido People from Kitami, Hokkaido Continental Cup of Curling participants Asian Games medalists in curling Curlers at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Curlers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Curlers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic curlers of Japan Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in curling Pan Continental curling champions Pacific-Asian curling champions 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women