Rio Nakata
Native name中田璃士
Other namesNakata Rio
Born (2008-09-08) September 8, 2008
Cardiff, Wales
HometownChiba, Japan
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country Japan
CoachMakoto Nakata, Kensuke Nakaniwa
Skating clubTokio Inkarami
Began skating2011
Medal record
Figure skating: Men's singles
Representing  Japan
Junior Grand Prix Final
Gold medal – first place2023–24 BeijingMen's singles

Rio Nakata (中田璃士, Nakata Rio, born 8 September 2008) is a Welsh–Japanese figure skater. He is the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final champion and a three-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist.

Personal life

Nakata was born on 8 September 2008 in Cardiff, Wales to his Welsh mother, Holly Mason, and Japanese father, Makoto Nakata.[1][2] The family moved to Chiba in 2022.[3][4] Nakata primarily speaks English at home and is fluent in the language.[5][6]

He is currently a student at Wakamatsu Junior High School.[7]

His figure skating idol is Shoma Uno.[6]

Career

Early career

Nakata began figure skating in 2011 at the age of three and his father, a former figure skater, has been his coach since then.[5]

He debuted at the novice b level by winning silver at the 2018 Tokyo Regionals, before going on to win bronze at the 2018–19 Japan Novice Championships. The following year, Nakata won gold at both events.[8]

Competing at the novice a level, Nakata won gold at both the 2020 Tokyo Regionals and the 2020–21 Japan Novice Championships. He was then selected to compete at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships, finishing seventeenth.The subsequent season, Nakata won silver and gold, respectively, at the 2021 Tokyo Regionals and the 2021–22 Japan Novice Championships. He then placed seventeenth at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships.[9]

In summer 2022, Nakata began training at the MF Figure Skating Academy after his father got a job there as a coach. It was there that Kensuke Nakaniwa also began coaching Nakata.[3]

2022–2023 season

Making his junior international debut, Nakata competed on the 2022–23 ISU Junior Grand Prix, winning silver at the 2022 JGP Latvia and finishing fourth at the 2022 JGP Poland II. With these results, Nakata was named as the first alternate for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final.[10][11]

He went on to compete at the Japan Eastern Sectional Championships, winning the gold medal. At the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, Nakata finished fifth and was selected to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Senior Championships due to this top eight finish.[12][9] At those championships, Nakata finished twenty-sixth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.[13]

Nakata closed his season by winning silver at the 2023 Triglav Trophy.[11]

2023–2024 season

Competing on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Nakata began his season by winning gold at the 2023 JGP Thailand and silver at the 2023 JGP Turkey.[14] These results guaranteed Nakata a spot at the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final.[15]

Nakata went on to win gold on the junior level of the 2023 Tokyo Regionals and the silver medal at the 2023 Japan Eastern Sectional Championships.[13] He then won the silver medal at the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships behind Shunsuke Nakamura. With this result, combined with his success on the Junior Grand Prix series, Nakata was selected to represent Japan at both the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics and the 2024 World Junior Championships.[13][16][17] He was also selected to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Senior Championships due to his top eight finish at the junior championships.[18]

At the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China, Nakata placed fourth in the short program after falling on a planned triple axel attempt and receiving an edge call on his triple lutz. However, he went on to win the free skate after landing a clean quad toe and seven clean triple jumps, and take the gold medal. At the event, Nakata said, "I wanted to show the world what I can do. It's my biggest competition yet so far and that made me really nervous. Being the youngest competitor here I feel like I am so small, and the others are so big. So, I have to compensate it by skating big!... I am so happy! Today is my mom's birthday and I think I gave her a nice present today... The result is a great achievement, but there are many competitions ahead this season. I need to work harder; I cannot relax now."[19]

Competing on the senior level at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, Nakata finished seventeenth.[13]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2023–2024
[14]
2022–2023
[11]

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International: Junior[20]
Event 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 22–23 23–24
Youth OlympicsTBD
Junior WorldsTBD
JGP Final1st
JGP Latvia2nd
JGP Poland4th
JGP Thailand1st
JGP Turkey2nd
Triglav Trophy2nd
National[21][8]
Japan26th17th
Japan Junior17th17th5th2nd
Japan Novice3rd B1st B1st A1st A
Japan Eastern Sect.1st J2nd J
Tokyo Reg.2nd B1st B1st A2nd A
Levels: J = Junior; A = Novice A; B = Novice B;
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE system [8]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS227.772023–24 Grand Prix Final
Short program TSS76.152022 JGP Poland II
TES40.302022 JGP Poland II
PCS36.032023 JGP Thailand
Free skating TSS160.062023–24 Grand Prix Final
TES84.672023–24 Grand Prix Final
PCS75.902023 JGP Turkey

Senior level

2023–24 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
December 20–24, 2023 2023–24 Japan Championships Senior 16
71.45		 17
128.82		 17
200.27
2022–23 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
December 21-25, 2022 2022–23 Japan Championships Senior 26
57.74		 – 26
57.74

Junior and Novice level

2023–24 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
February 26–March 3, 2024 2024 World Junior Championships Junior


TBD
January 19–Feburary 2, 2020 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Junior


TBD
December 7–10, 2023 2023–24 JGP Final Junior 4
67.71		 1
160.06		 1
227.77
November 17–19, 2023 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships Junior 5
64.28		 1
141.48		 2
205.76
November 2–5, 2023 2023 Japan Eastern Sectional Championships Junior 1
70.07		 5
109.25		 2
179.32
September 6–9, 2023 2023 JGP Turkey Junior 3
73.55		 2
148.80		 2
222.35
August 23–26, 2023 2023 JGP Thailand Junior 3
75.28		 1
142.37		 1
217.65
2022–23 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
April 12–16, 2023 2023 Triglav Trophy Junior 2
65.42		 2
119.03		 2
184.45
November 25–27, 2022 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships Junior 7
63.26		 4
126.98		 5
190.24
November 3–6, 2022 2022 Japan Eastern Sectional Championships Junior 1
70.05		 1
117.65		 1
187.70
Octobr 5–8, 2022 2022 JGP Poland Junior 3
76.15		 4
124.26		 4
200.41
September 7-10, 2022 2022 JGP Latvia Junior 3
68.91		 3
131.26		 2
200.17
2021–22 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
November 19–21, 2021 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships Junior 10
57.87		 23
84.60		 17
142.47
October 22–24, 2021 2021–22 Japan Novice Championships Novice – 1
102.06		 1
102.06
October 7–10, 2021 2021 Tokyo Regional Championships Novice – 2
90.19		 2
90.19
2020–21 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
November 21–23, 2020 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships Junior 20
47.94		 15
96.14		 17
144.08
October 24–25, 2020 2020–21 Japan Novice Championships Novice – 1
90.73		 1
90.73
October 9–11, 2020 2020 Tokyo Regional Championships Novice – 1
72.65		 1
72.65

References

  1. ↑ Kano, Shintaro (9 December 2023). "Grand Prix Final 2023: Nakata Rio hits 'a home run' to give Japan junior singles sweep". International Olympic Committee.
  2. ↑ 坂上, 武司. "「あのカリブ海のように」　宇野昌磨に憧れる13歳ジュニアデビュー". Aashi. Aashi. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 "中田璃士選手「全日本選手権で強い選手たちと戦いたい」 - フィギュアスケーターのオアシス♪ KENJIの部屋". JSports. JSports. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "先生紹介". MF Figure Skating Academy. MF Figure Skating Academy. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 "中田璃士選手「気づいたら氷の上に乗っていた」 - フィギュアスケーターのオアシス♪ KENJIの部屋". JSports. JSports. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Rio NAKATA (JPN) - Junior Men Winner - Bangkok 2023 - #JGPFigure". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "【フィギュア】中田璃士が大逆転Ｖ「１位の意地を見せないと」今季初３回転半２本成功". Nikkan Sports. Nikkan Sports. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "JPN-Rio NAKATA". Skating Scores. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 "中田　璃士". Japan Skating Federation. Japan Skating Federation. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2022/2023 - Junior Men". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 "Rio NAKATA: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "激闘を勝ち抜き🙌男女8名とペア1組が全日本選手権推薦出場🎉". Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "中田 璃士 Rio NAKATA". Fuji TV. Fuji TV. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  14. 1 2 "Rio NAKATA: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2023/2024 - Junior Men". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  16. ↑ "YOG 2024" (PDF). Japanese Skating Union. Japanese Skating Union. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "JUNIOR WORLDS ASSIGNMENTS✨". Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "Nominee 2023" (PDF). Japan Figure Skating Federation. Japan Figure Skating Federation. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  19. ↑ Slater, Paula. "Rio Nakata rebounds to capture gold at Junior Grand Prix Final". Golden Skate. Golden Skate. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Rio NAKATA: Competition Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Rio NAKATA". RinkResults.com. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
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