# Utana Yoshida

Utana Yoshida (吉田 唄菜, Yoshida Utana, born September 6, 2003) is a Japanese ice dancer, who currently competes with Masaya Morita. Together, they are the 2025 Asian Winter Games champions, the 2024–25 Japanese national champions and the 2023–24 Japanese national bronze medalists.
With her former skating partner, Shingo Nishiyama, she was a two-time Japanese national junior ice dance champion (2020, 2021) and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics champion in the team event.

## Personal life

Yoshida was born on September 6, 2003, in Kurashiki, Japan. She is the graduate of N High School.
She looks up to ice dance teams, Carreira/Ponomarenko and Lajoie/Lagha.

## Career
### Early career

Yoshida began skating in 2010 after being inspired from watching Mao Asada perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Originally a ladies' singles skater, she placed seventh at the novice level at the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional in 2014, and thus failed to advance to the 2014–15 Japan Championships. Yoshida switched to ice dance in 2016, partnering with Takumi Sugiyama. Yoshida / Sugiyama were fourth at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships and won the advanced novice gold medal at the 2017 Mentor Toruń Cup. Yoshida / Sugiyama split at the end of the season, and she was partnerless for two seasons.

### Partnership with Nishiyama
#### 2019–2020 season

Yoshida teamed up with Shingo Nishiyama in early 2019 after a tryout arranged by the Japan Skating Federation in fall 2018 and moved to train with him and his coaches at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Canada in February 2019.
In their first season as a partnership, Yoshida/Nishiyama placed sixth at both 2019 JGP United States and 2019 JGP Italy. They then won gold at the Western Sectional and advanced to the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, where they again won gold, ahead of Ayumi Takanami / Yoshimitsu Ikeda. As a result, Yoshida/Nishiyama were assigned to the 2020 World Junior Championships and the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. They were invited to skate in the gala at the 2019 NHK Trophy as junior national champion.
At the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, Yoshida / Nishiyama placed sixth in the ice dance event with a new personal best, following a sixth-place rhythm dance and a fourth-place free dance. They were chosen by draw to be part of Team Courage for the mixed-NOC team event, alongside singles' skaters Arlet Levandi of Estonia and Ksenia Sinitsyna of Russia and pairs team Alina Butaeva / Luka Berulava of Georgia. Yoshida/Nishiyama won the free dance portion of the team event, ahead of both the silver and bronze medalists from the individual ice dance event, to help Team Courage win the gold medal.
Yoshida/Nishiyama set a goal of being in the top ten at the 2020 World Junior Championships. They placed twelfth in Tallinn.

#### 2020–2021 season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Junior Grand Prix, where Yoshida/Nishiyama would have competed, was cancelled. In November, they won their second consecutive junior national title at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships.
Yoshida/Nishiyama announced their split in January 2021. In May 2021, Yoshida announced her partnership with American skater Seiji Urano for Japan.

### Partnership with Urano
#### 2021–2022 season

Yoshida/Urano did not appear in any major international or domestic events before announcing their split in December 2021.

### Partnership with Morita
#### 2023–2024 season

In April 2023, then partnerless Japanese ice dancer, Masaya Morita sent a DM to Yoshida's Instagram account, asking if she would be interested in having a tryout with him which she agreed to. The two would meet up at the Okayama International Skating Rink in Okayama, where their tryout was monitored by Morita's coach, Cathy Reed and Yoshida's coach, Rie Arikawa. This tryout would prove successful and end with Yoshida/Morita agreeing to pair up on that same day. Yoshida would move to Uji, Kyoto to train with Morita at the Kinoshita Skate Academy under coaches, Reed and Arikawa.
Yoshida/Morita made their international competitive debut on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished in fifth place. They next competed at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, which proved to be a tight contest between them and two other senior teams. They finished third in the rhythm dance after Morita fell in their twizzle sequence, coming behind Yoshida's former partner Nishiyama and his new partner Azusa Tanaka and the four-time national champions Komatsubara/Koleto. Yoshida/Morita then won the free dance, but remained in third place overall for the bronze medal. Yoshida said that they were "happy to have skated at Nationals," but admitted they had come just short of their goal of hitting 110 points in the free dance.
With the close result at the national championships, the Japan Skating Federation opted to postpone assigning Japan's lone berth at the 2024 World Championships pending the results of all three teams at the 2024 Four Continents Championships. Traveling to Shanghai to compete, Yoshida/Morita finished tenth overall, but more than sixteen points behind national champions Komatsubara/Koleto.

#### 2024–25 season

Yoshita/Morita started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in fifth place. Going on to make their Grand Prix series debut, the duo finished ninth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.
In late December, Yoshida/Morita won the national title at the 2024–25 Japan Championships. They were subsequently named to the Four Continents and World teams.

## Programs
### With Morita

| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | Be-Bop-a-Lula by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps & Tex Davis Be-Bop-a-Lula (Original Artist Re-Recording) by Gene Vincent & Tex Davis Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On by Dave Williams & Roy Hall performed by Elvis Presley choreo. by Cathy Reed | Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 The Deaths of the Lovers Introduction Juliet’s Room Dance of the Knights Balcony Scene Tybalt Interrupts Dance of the Knights by Sergei Prokofiev choreo. by Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell, Adrián Díaz | Apt. by Rosé & Bruno Mars Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man |
| 2023–2024 | Real Wild Child (Wild One) by Iggy Pop & Johnny O’Keefe Wild Thing by X & Chip Taylor Wild Side by Mötley Crüe, Tommy Lee, & Nikki Sixx choreo. by Cathy Reed, Kaitlyn Weaver | Rise of the Phoenix by Jennifer Thomas X-X by Hans Zimmer Rise of the Phoenix by Quantum Infinity, Daniel O'Borne, & Matthew Cooper choreo. by Massimo Scali | |

### With Nishiyama

| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
| 2020–2021 | Charleston: One Foxtrot: I Can Do That Foxtrot: Medley (from A Chorus Line) by Marvin Hamlisch choreo. by Aaron Lowe, Megan Wing | Entree of Basil Pas de Deux (from Don Quixote) by Léon Minkus choreo. by Romain Haguenauer | Hip Hip Chin Chin Charleston: One Foxtrot: I Can Do That Foxtrot: Medley (from A Chorus Line) by Marvin Hamlisch choreo. by Aaron Lowe, Megan Wing |
| 2019–2020 | Charleston: One Foxtrot: I Can Do That Foxtrot: Medley (from A Chorus Line) by Marvin Hamlisch choreo. by Aaron Lowe, Megan Wing | Entree of Basil Pas de Deux (from Don Quixote) by Léon Minkus choreo. by Romain Haguenauer | |

## Competitive highlights
### Ice dance with Morita

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
International :
| Event | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Worlds | | TBD |
| Four Continents | 10th | 8th |
| GP NHK Trophy | | 9th |
| CS Golden Spin | 5th | |
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | | 5th |
| Asian Winter Games | | 1st |
| National |||
| Japan | 3rd | 1st |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew |||

### Ice dance with Nishiyama

JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International: Junior :
| Event | 19–20 | 20–21 |
| Junior Worlds | 12th | |
| Youth Olympics | 6th | |
| JGP Italy | 6th | |
| JGP United States | 6th | |
| Bavarian Open | 6th | |
| National |||
| Japan Junior Champ. | 1st | 1st |
| Japan Western Sect. | 1st J | 1st J |
| Team events |||
| Youth Olympics | 1st T 1st P | |
| T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only. Levels: J= Junior |||

### Ice dance with Sugiyama

International: Advanced novice :
| Event | 16–17 |
| Mentor Toruń Cup | 1st |
| National ||
| Japan Junior Champ. | 4th |
| Japan Novice Champ. | 1st |

## Detailed results
### With Morita

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 171.59 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Rhythm dance | TSS | 68.94 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Rhythm dance | TES | 39.01 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Rhythm dance | PCS | 29.93 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Free dance | TSS | 103.27 | 2024 Four Continents Championships |
| Free dance | TES | 58.79 | 2024 Four Continents Championships |
| Free dance | PCS | 45.10 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
Results in the 2024-25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Sep 19–21, 2024 | 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 6 | 68.94 | 5 | 102.65 | 6 | 171.59 |
| Nov 8–10, 2024 | 2024 NHK Trophy | 9 | 64.30 | 9 | 97.06 | 9 | 161.36 |
| Dec 19–22, 2024 | 2024–25 Japan Championships | 1 | 71.84 | 1 | 104.37 | 1 | 176.21 |
| Feb 11–13, 2025 | 2025 Asian Winter Games | 1 | 68.88 | 2 | 104.43 | 1 | 173.31 |
| Feb 19–23, 2025 | 2025 Four Continents Championships | 8 | 65.00 | 9 | 101.56 | 8 | 166.56 |
Results in the 2023-24 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Dec 6–9, 2023 | 2023 CS Golden Spin | 7 | 62.88 | 5 | 101.32 | 5 | 164.20 |
| Dec 20–24, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Championships | 3 | 64.00 | 1 | 109.17 | 3 | 173.17 |
| Jan 30–Feb 4, 2024 | 2024 Four Continents Championships | 10 | 62.86 | 10 | 103.27 | 10 | 166.13 |

### With Nishiyama
#### Junior results

2020–21 season :
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
| November 21–23, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships | 1 58.74 | 1 91.06 | 1 149.80 |
| Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Western Sectional | 1 58.83 | 1 88.12 | 1 146.95 |
| 2019–20 season |||||
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
| March 2–8, 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | 13 56.05 | 8 93.55 | 12 149.61 |
| February 3–9, 2020 | 2020 Bavarian Open | 6 56.36 | 6 86.32 | 6 142.68 |
| January 10–15, 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Team | – | 1 99.31 | 1T/1P |
| January 10–15, 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | 6 56.38 | 4 92.32 | 6 148.70 |
| November 15–17, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships | 1 57.49 | 1 90.06 | 1 147.55 |
| November 1–4, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Western Sectional | 1 59.06 | 1 91.30 | 1 150.36 |
| October 2–5, 2019 | 2019 JGP Italy | 7 54.92 | 6 85.48 | 6 140.40 |
| August 28–31, 2019 | 2019 JGP United States | 6 56.43 | 5 83.32 | 6 139.75 |

### With Sugiyama

2016–17 season :
| Date | Event | Level | PD1 | PD2 | SD | FD | Total |
| January 10–15, 2017 | 2017 Mentor Toruń Cup | Adv. novice | 2 13.15 | 2 13.37 | – | 1 53.09 | 1 79.61 |
| November 18–20, 2016 | 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships | Junior | – | – | 6 29.88 | 2 56.82 | 4 86.70 |