Sōta Yamamoto on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
is a Japanese
Competing in the 2015–16 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Yamamoto won the bronze medal in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and gold in Toruń, Poland. These results qualified him for the 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2015–16 JGP Final, where he was awarded the bronze medal. He won his first junior national title at the 2015–16 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2015 Japanese Junior Championships.
In February 2016, Yamamoto won the gold medal in the men's singles discipline at the Figure skating at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, Winter Youth Olympics ahead of Latvia's Deniss Vasiljevs and Russia's Dmitri Aliev. He fractured his right ankle in practice on March 12, causing him to withdraw from the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen.
Debuting on the 2018-19 ISU Challenger Series, Challenger series, Yamamoto won gold at the 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, 2018 CS Asian Open. He fared less well at his second Challenger, placing ninth at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy. Making his 2018-19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix debut, Yamamoto was sixth at Japan's 2018 NHK Trophy. Ninth at the 2018-19 Japan Figure Skating Championships, Japan Championships, he finished the season with a gold medal at the International Challenge Cup, 2019 Challenge Cup.
Sota Yamamoto
at SkatingScores.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Sota 2000 births Japanese male single skaters Living people Sportspeople from Kishiwada, Osaka Figure skaters from Osaka Prefecture Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Youth Olympic gold medalists for Japan World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Competitors at the 2023 Winter World University Games Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Competitors at the 2025 Winter World University Games
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, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...
. He is the 2022–23 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2022–23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, ISU Grand Prix medalist (including gold at the 2023 Skate Canada International), a four-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (two gold, two silver), the Figure skating at the 2023 Winter World University Games, 2023 World University Games champion, and the 2023–24 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2023–24 Japanese national bronze medalist.
Earlier in his career, he was the Figure skating at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, 2016 Youth Olympic champion, the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2015 World Junior bronze medalist, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, Junior Grand Prix Final medalist (silver in 2014–15 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2014, bronze in 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2015), and the 2015–16 Japan Figure Skating Championships#Junior-level results, 2015–16 Japan junior national champion.
Personal life
Yamamoto was born on January 10, 2000, in Kishiwada, Osaka, Japan. He studied at the Chukyo University School of Sport Sciences and graduated in 2024.Career
Yamamoto started skating when he was five. He is a 3-time Japanese national novice medalist. He was invited to skate in the gala at the 2013 ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating, 2013 World Team Trophy as the Japanese national novice champion in the same season.2013–14 season
Yamamoto debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2013–14 ISU Junior Grand Prix, 2013–14 season, placing 11th in Riga, Latvia, his sole assignment. At the 2013–14 Japan Figure Skating Championships, Japan Championships, he was 5th in the junior competition and 14th at the senior event.2014–15 season
During the 2014–15 ISU Junior Grand Prix, 2014–15 JGP series, Yamamoto won silver medals in Courchevel, France and Tallinn, Estonia, which qualified him to the 2014–15 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2014–15 JGP Final in Barcelona, Spain. Ranked first in the short program and third in the free skate, he finished second overall, behind Shoma Uno and ahead of Alexander Petrov (figure skater), Alexander Petrov. 2014–15 Japan Figure Skating Championships, Nationally, he was the junior silver medalist, behind Shoma Uno, and finished 6th at the senior event. At the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2015 World Junior Championships, Yamamoto placed 7th in the short program and 3rd in the free skate to win the bronze medal in his first appearance at that competition.2015–16 season
Competing in the 2015–16 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Yamamoto won the bronze medal in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and gold in Toruń, Poland. These results qualified him for the 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2015–16 JGP Final, where he was awarded the bronze medal. He won his first junior national title at the 2015–16 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2015 Japanese Junior Championships.
In February 2016, Yamamoto won the gold medal in the men's singles discipline at the Figure skating at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, Winter Youth Olympics ahead of Latvia's Deniss Vasiljevs and Russia's Dmitri Aliev. He fractured his right ankle in practice on March 12, causing him to withdraw from the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen.
2017–18 season
After missing the entirety of the 2016–2017 season, Yamamoto returned to competition domestically at the 2017-18 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2017–18 Japan Championships, placing ninth. Venturing out internationally, he placed fifth at the Coupe du Printemps.2018–19 season
Debuting on the 2018-19 ISU Challenger Series, Challenger series, Yamamoto won gold at the 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, 2018 CS Asian Open. He fared less well at his second Challenger, placing ninth at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy. Making his 2018-19 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix debut, Yamamoto was sixth at Japan's 2018 NHK Trophy. Ninth at the 2018-19 Japan Figure Skating Championships, Japan Championships, he finished the season with a gold medal at the International Challenge Cup, 2019 Challenge Cup.
2019–20 season
Again beginning the season with two 2019-20 ISU Challenger Series, Challenger assignments, Yamamoto won the silver medal at the 2019 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, 2019 CS U.S. Classic after placing third in the short program and second in the free skate. the season at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, and led the field after the short program, in which he set a new personal best and landed two quadruple jump, quad jumps. He fell four times in the free skate, placing sixth in the segment, but narrowly took the silver medal overall.2020–21 season
Yamamoto won the gold medal at the domestic Western Sectionals championship, qualifying for a berth to the national championships. Assigned to the 2020 NHK Trophy, he placed eighth. He was ninth at the 2020-21 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2020–21 Japan Championships.2021–22 season
Yamamoto debuted on the 2021-22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix at the 2021 Skate Canada International, finishing in seventh. He was seventh as well at the 2021 NHK Trophy, and said afterwards he felt he was "able to grow a little bit since Skate Canada." Yamamoto finished the fall season with a gold medal at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup. At the 2021-22 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2021–22 Japan Championships, Yamamoto finished in eight place. He went on to win the bronze medal at the International Challenge Cup.2022–23 season
Beginning the season on the 2022-23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix, Yamamoto won the short program at the 2022 Grand Prix de France. He was overtaken in the free skate by Frenchman Adam Siao Him Fa, but still scored a new personal best in that segment and won the silver medal, his first Grand Prix podium placement. Yamamoto reflected on his past struggles with injury, saying that it made the moment "special for me, and I know I couldn't have achieved it myself. I have had all the support from my team as well as support from the fans." At his second event, the 2022 NHK Trophy on home ice in Sapporo, Yamamoto again finished first in the short program with a new personal best score of 96.49, ahead of reigning 2022 World Figure Skating Championships, World champion Shoma Uno. He was again overtaken in the free skate, this time by Uno, but won his second silver medal and qualified to the 2022-23 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Grand Prix Final for the first time. He said that he was pleased at the prospect of competing together with Uno at the Final. At the Final in Turin, Yamamoto finished second in the short program behind Uno. He assessed that his quad Salchow jump, Salchow was "not perfect, but I am happy I was able to skate without any mistakes and going into the free skating, it will be a confidence boost." The segment also saw several other skaters, such as widely favoured American Ilia Malinin, underperform. In the free skate, Yamamoto set a new personal best (on his way to a personal best total score as well), finishing third in the segment behind Uno and Malinin, but remaining second overall. Winning the silver medal, he said he was pleased to have delivered a satisfactory free skate for the first time in the season and to have achieved his goal of making the podium. Yamamoto finished third in the short program at the 2022-23 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2022–23 Japan Championships, but a seventh-place free skate dropped him to fifth overall. Despite this, due to the Japan Skating Federation's selection criteria incorporating international results, he was selected as Japan's third man for the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships, 2023 World Championships, which occasioned some controversy due to national silver medalist Koshiro Shimada being passed over. Named to the Japanese team for the Figure skating at the 2023 Winter World University Games, 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York, Lake Placid, Yamamoto won the gold medal, finishing more than thirty points ahead of silver medalist Tatsuya Tsuboi. He then won the silver medal at the International Challenge Cup at the end of February. Yamamoto was fifteenth in his World Championship debut on home ice in Saitama (city), Saitama.2023–24 season
Yamamoto began the season at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International, finishing in fourth place. Moving on to the 2023-24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Grand Prix, he started at the 2023 Skate Canada International. First in the short program despite an underrotated quad jump and a spin error, he was only third in the free skate, but remained in first place overall to claim his first Grand Prix gold medal. At the 2023 Cup of China, he finished in sixth place after struggles in the short program. At the 2023–24 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2023–24 Japan Championships, Yamamoto finished second in the short program, albeit more than ten points behind segment leader Shoma Uno. In the free skate he came third, and placed third overall, winning the bronze medal and standing on the Japanese national podium for the first time in his senior career. Reflecting on his career, Yamamoto said there "were good times and bad times, and there were really tough days. But I'm glad I did my best even through those times. This is the result I was aiming for, but I want to look even further ahead, set my goals even higher, and grow even more." Yamamoto competed at the 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2024 Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, coming fourth in both segments and finishing fourth overall.2024–25 season
Yamamoto opened the season by winning gold at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Yamamoto placed third in the short program at 2024 Skate Canada International. However, he dropped to fourth after making a few costly mistakes during his free skate. Following the event, Christopher Tin, who composed one of tracks that Yamamoto used for his free program, praised Yamamoto's performance on his social media accounts. Three weeks later, Yamamoto would also place fourth at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy. In December, Yamamoto finished tenth at the 2024–25 Japan Figure Skating Championships, 2024–25 Japan Championships and was named as the third alternate to the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, 2025 World Championship team. One month later, Yamamoto competed at the Figure skating at the 2025 Winter World University Games, 2025 Winter World University Games in Turin, Italy, where he finished in sixth place. He then closed the season by winning the bronze medal at the 2025 Road to 26 TrophyPrograms
Competitive highlights
Detailed results
Senior level
Junior level
References
External links
*Sota Yamamoto
at SkatingScores.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Sota 2000 births Japanese male single skaters Living people Sportspeople from Kishiwada, Osaka Figure skaters from Osaka Prefecture Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Youth Olympic gold medalists for Japan World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Competitors at the 2023 Winter World University Games Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Competitors at the 2025 Winter World University Games