Legends skating Legends in front of the Legend herself......
bless mihoko higuchi's brain for choosing Legends 10 years ago for shoma's SP because 10 years later shoma skated the program in front of mihoko... as a duet WITH none other than stephane lambiel himself, mirroring positions and side by side step sequences with some cheek, basically being the two coolest dudes ever for the coolest program by the coolest queen
also they both wore incredible tight black leather fits with belts across their chests and mirror shards for that duet. this is important. NO BAD COSTUMES ALLOWED FOR ICE BRAVE 2025 THERE ARE OTHER JAPANESE ICE SHOWS FOR THAT I SAID WHAT I SAID
Dear Shoma,
Congratulations on your retirement announcement and the phenomenal competitive skating career you have built over 21 years!
I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to support you and to witness your skills, your focus, your hard work, your winning spirit, your passion, your determination, your love for the sport, and all the other amazing qualities you have demonstrated. You have inspired me much and I am deeply grateful for all that I have learnt by your side!
Enjoy the next steps with confidence and pride, and know that I will always be rooting for you!
Uno Shoma returns to his origin with a “chanson” as he faces new season as the World Champion.
TEAMING UP WITH FORMER COACH HIGUCHI MIHOKO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS
24 years old Uno Shoma (Toyota Corp.) who won his first World Championship last season in Men’s Figure Skating, took a step towards the next stage without losing his “natural” charm.
On August 25, at Kose Shin Yokohama Skate Center in Yokohama, he performed his exhibition number ‘Padam, padam’ for the first time at the public rehearsal of Friends on Ice which marks the end of summer ice show season.
Riding on the relaxing masterpiece of "Chanson" which has a vague melancholy and a gorgeous melody, the performance by the figure skater who became the world champion after growing from the bottom through ups and downs, highlighted Uno Shoma’s personality.
These past few years had also been a turbulent period with big changes as an athlete. He regarded even ice shows as a place where he wants to improve himself at, and seemed to re-challenge his return to origins by teaming up for the first time in 3 years.
DETERMINED TO ENHANCE HIS POWER OF EXPRESSION, “A PATH I’VE CHOSEN MYSELF”
Shoma Uno, who won the silver medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, made the big decision in June 2019 to leave the coaches of Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi, who had been coaching him since he was five years old. The scene of him teaming up with his former coach Higuchi Mihoko after a long time was also uploaded on Uno Shoma’s official YouTube.
Having known each other since his childhood, the smile as she gives advice about his stance right before the song begins or on the detailed choreography of his finish, reveals their trusting relationship, slightly different to the one he has with ex-World Champion Stephane Lambiel.
Uno Shoma commented, “I want to move forward on the path I’ve chosen myself without rushing anything. Things like choreography as well, since I chose this sport called Figure Skating, even though jumps get the most points, I think expression is one of the charms of figure skating, so I think it will continue to demonstrate it’s true value at ice shows.”
And he pledged a new challenge to improve his expressive power on ice. “I hope to skate to various programs so I can show everyone even a little different side of me, so that they can be surprised and have fun.”
THIS SEASON’S GP SERIES ARE SKATE CANADA AND NHK TROPHY.
This season Shoma Uno, set goals to his “progress” of acquiring the highly difficult quadruple lutz, and shows interest in the blues-guitar song “Gravity”, his new SP.
Officially announcing Bach’s Air as his new Free Program, he’s scheduled for this season’s Grand Prix Series’ second round in Skate Canada (October 28-30, Missisauga) and fifth round in NHK Trophy (November 18-20, Sapporo).
There’s no comparing the relationship of trust he has with Coach Lambiel, who had been a savior from the period he was without a coach, with the time he spent returning to his origins with Coach Higuchi Mihoko.
On his own YouTube he spoke of a unique relationship of trust, “With Stephane, Stephane does it (new programs) by himself. I feel like I have to imitate that, but I’ve known (Higuchi) Mihoko Sensei since a long time ago, so I think I have a relationship I can only have with Mihoko Sensei where I can say things like ‘Is it like this? Is it like that?’”
When asked about his vision of an ideal athlete, Shoma Uno mentioned Nathan Chen (USA) who recently won Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. Towards a new stage as a skater. Shoma Uno doesn’t intend to stop his “growth” even after becoming the world champion.
30 August 2022, Source || spaia.jp
I see that lately you’ve been reblogging the ice skating guy. Could you introduce him to us in the caro way??👀
i see, i see. you are falling for the beautiful ice skating guy. with delight do i talk about him. ♥︎ who are you asking about, then?
shōma uno (22) of nagoya, japan, the dreamiest ice angel you will ever see:
lucky newcomer stans: shoma is extremely easy to spot. 5′2, soulful, sparkly, and always headed for the podium because his artistry fucking slaps. this angel is the latest olympic silver medalist ✨
if you see a petite, serious-looking guy with thighs for the gods and impossibly elegant upper body work, you can be sure it’s him.
off the ice, look for this: the supreme doe face. dark uwu eyes, wide baby cheeks, 100% shook. needless to say: it’s over when he looks at you like that.
something else to watch for when you want to spot the angel. his primary hobby is sleeping lmao! shoma naps everywhere. once, he was so exhausted, he was found cutely slumbering before his olympic press conference.
meanwhile, his presence on the ice? expressive, alluring, aptly sensual start to finish. sometimes feisty, even. he saves all his energy and then delivers. it’s ballet on blades. the guy puts so much passion into his choreo.
most well-known are the moments when he ends his program and switches back to his normal cute mode. that’s when you see the puppy gaze return.
bc the thing is: you won’t see shoma’s feistiness elsewhere. the japanese are already very reserved and shy, but he’s made an art form of it. his voice is quite light and high, that contributes to the effect. i have not seen one interview where he tries to stand out or embellish his answers. shoma stays true to his unobtrusive character, you’ll see him spaced out 90% of the time.
shoma is often freightened by social settings and fan service. if you didn’t know how he’s on the ice, you can easily get the impression that he’s avoidant or insecure. but it’s just this: he’d rather be gaming or eating than get animated and play celebrity. you have a cozy introvert here. he’s in the game since he’s 5 years old but still doesn’t show himself off, he’s in his own sphere.
you might see him look overwhelmed pretty often, but the flipside of the coin is, shoma is humble and doesn’t act out of arrogance. for a skater this great, his ego is minimum inflated. he doesn’t like putting himself in the center. legend has it he could always win gold but takes default silver out of politeness 😂
what he does like and respond to is getting direct praise. shoma lives for encouragement. that shit flusters him immensely, and it’s something he accepts. when he’s uneasy in crowds he doesn’t smile very often. but to this day, fans shouting ‘shoma, you’re so cute’ before he starts to skate has proven to lift his spirits effortlessly. last time it happened, he immediately cracked a smile:
now, there is plenty to compliment.
i mean, look. the sheer athleticism of this man. god knows how high he jumps.
from facial expressions to hand postures, everything captures the music. he looks fantastic.
shoma has great sense of dramatism. what you’re seeing is always art.
shoma’s infamous signature move is the cantilever. you can see why. the audience is losing their minds every time.
what else to praise? the absolutely beautiful costumes.
shoutout to satomi ito who designs these.
the #1 shoma praise bot is skating god yuzuru hanyu (aka current reigning olympic gold medalist) himself. imagine this: a baby is babied by a fellow but slightly older baby. yuzu said this about shoma: “he is like a puppy!” what you see is what you get, shoma is as adorable as he looks.
so, yuzu takes good care of him and makes sure smol shoma is always included even if he’s getting shy. even since the early days:
if you ask me, team japan couldn’t be any more handsome and princely. the sheer combined power of cuteness and skill. you’ll hear from these lovelies.
shoma and his younger brother itsuki are also pretty much inseparable. goals, this is the softest sibling insta you will ever see. once again, with sleepy shoma.
baby photos included. faith in humanity restored.
he also has wholesome interactions with his idol and fellow skater daisuke takahashi. dai is a funky, bubbly personality and complements shoma’s introversion really well.
another important person to shoma, if not the most decisive recently, is retired world champion stéphane lambiel. yes, this handsome swiss glamazon.
shoma went through a highly distressing period of being coachless last year. he parted ways with machiko yamada and mihoko higuchi (below) who were his coaches for 16 (!) years. they were a dream team.
so that he decided to go for something new ended up as the most heartbreaking shit. he lost his inspiration and will for skating and kept dropping to lower rankings. he broke down in competitions because his fans were cheering for him even if his skating deteriorated and he felt undeserving. 2019 was shoma’s existential crisis. he went to several camps to try out coaches, to no avail.
enter coach stéphane! who started to work with him last winter. oh thank god. lo and behold, shooms has been consistently improving and getting very smiley (!) ever since. these two go together like fries and ketchup.
so, guess who is currently training in switzerland now. whole new world for the little guy 💕
stéphane is eccentric, cheeky, and bold enough to uplift and inspire him but also “so friendly!” as shoma described him. he praises genuinely and knows how to foster shoma’s talent. their language barrier is also no problem, lambiel is a polyglot. i think that stéphane is off ice what shoma is on ice, this is the perfect exchange. i love this song.
the ice angel has quickly recovered from his misery thanks to the amount of positive feedback. on youtube, you find multiple fancams of stéphane getting very invested in uno’s performance from the sidelines 😄 shoma adores him and stéphane is a protective ice dad. just look at these two.
there’s no better coach he could have. stéphane’s choreographies perfectly cater to shoma’s poetic interpretation. so satisfying. so impeccable. as dostoevsky said, beauty will save the world.
last japanese nationals in december, shoma even took gold and cried from relief on the podium. he’s improved so much. stéphane will make him go far.
what convinced him to coach uno was simply this: “his eyes sparkled!”. and yes, there’s hardly anyone who won’t be impacted by this.
this puppy has all of our hearts so let’s send out compliments to him. fingers crossed for shoma’s upcoming competitions and the next olympics where i am sure he will stun the world. i mean, he won gold in the baby boy hall of fame already. he’s a really great artist and soft person who deserves everything. thank you for attending my ted talk.
“I confess when Shoma confirmed Stephane was his new coach, my first thought was ‘Wow, he really went from the most beautiful female coach to the most handsome male coach, lucky boy’ XD”
