# Rino Matsuike

Rino Matsuike (/ˈriːnoʊ mætsuˈiːkeɪ/ REE-noh mat-soo-EE-kay; Japanese: 松生 理乃, IPA:; born October 10, 2004) is a Japanese figure skater. She is a four-time ISU Grand Prix medalist (two silver, two bronze) and finished fifth at the 2022 Four Continents Championships, winning a small bronze medal for her free skate. She is also the 2022 International Challenge Cup champion.
On the junior level, she is the 2020–21 Japanese junior national champion and the 2019 JGP Latvia bronze medalist.

## Personal life

Matsuike was born on October 10, 2004, in Nagoya. After graduating from Chukyo High School, she enrolled into Chukyo University in 2021, where she currently studies at the Department of Sports Management. She has also studied Korean as a second language at the university.

## Career
### Early career

Matsuike began skating in 2012 at the age of eight. A fan of Mao Asada, Matsuike would soon join the Nagoya Sports Center to train under Asada's former coaches, Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi.
Matsuike competed at the Japan Novice Championships twice, finishing 14th in 2016–17 and 11th in 2017–18. She moved up to juniors the following year, finishing eighth at the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships.

### 2019–2020 season

Matsuike made her junior international debut at 2019 JGP Latvia, winning the bronze medal behind Lee Hae-in and Daria Usacheva. She is the first Japanese lady to medal in her junior international debut since Rika Kihira in 2016–17. Matsuike was scheduled to compete at 2019 JGP Italy, but withdrew due to injury.
At the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships in November, Matsuike was third in the short program but 14th in the free skate to fall to ninth overall. As a result, she did not qualify for the senior Championships and did not make the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics or the 2020 World Junior Championships teams.

### 2020–2021 season

Due to the cancellation of the Junior Grand Prix, Matsuike opened her season on the domestic qualifying circuit. She won the Chubu Regionals and the Western Sectionals en route to the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships title. Matsuike won by nearly ten points over Hana Yoshida and Mao Shimada. Her win would have qualified her for a spot on the 2021 World Junior Championships team, but the event was cancelled.
Matsuike made her senior international debut at the 2020 NHK Trophy, winning bronze behind Kaori Sakamoto and Wakaba Higuchi. She called the event "a real confidence booster" and "that it [was] an honor to be skating here at NHK Trophy, so [she] wanted to enjoy every moment." Matsuike aimed to further develop her skills after competing alongside the seniors, but her performance drew praise from international commentators, including Ted Barton.
Matsuike made her senior Japan Championships debut, placing seventh in the short program after a fall on a non-element but otherwise executing the program cleanly. She was fourth in the free skate, receiving an under rotation on one jump and an edge call on her triple flip, and rose to fourth place overall. As a result of her placement, Matsuike was named first alternate for the 2021 World Championships team, pending her attainment of senior TES minimums.

### 2021–2022 season

Matsuike was assigned as a host pick to the 2021 NHK Trophy, where she finished in sixth place. She had begun attempting a triple Axel in competition that season at Japanese domestic competitions, but due to recovery from injury, did not attempt one at NHK. She was eighth at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, her second Grand Prix. She expressed "many regrets about both of my programs" but said that she was focused on increasing her technical difficulty in the future to compete with the top Russian skaters.
At the 2021–22 Japan Championships, Matsuike placed seventh. She was named as third alternate for the Japanese Olympic team and assigned to compete at the 2022 Four Continents Championships. A poor short program left Matsuike in eighth place at Four Continents going in the free skate, after falling on a triple flip attempt and stepping out of her jump combination. She went on to skate a clean free skate, other than an edge call on the triple flip, placing third in that segment and winning a bronze small medal. She rose to fifth overall. Matsuike reflected on her season, saying she had had "a lot of regrets" about earlier events and the short program, but that "I was crying and really under pressure, but I was able to push myself, and today's performance was good." She expressed a hope of adding more difficult technical content in the following season. Matsuike finished the season at the International Challenge Cup, winning the gold medal.

### 2022–2023 season

After placing eighth in the short program at the 2022 Skate America, Matsuike withdrew before the free skate due to illness. She then went on to compete at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, where she subsequently finished in seventh place. Matsuike came thirteenth at the 2022–23 Japan Championships.

### 2023–2024 season

Originally without a Grand Prix assignment, Matsuike was assigned to the 2023 Skate Canada International after the withdrawal of compatriot Rika Kihira. Despite dealing with some underrotation calls on her jumps, she finished third and won her second Grand Prix medal. Matsuike said that while there had been mistakes, "overall I put it all together. I wasn't even supposed to be at an event like this and I was just happy to be here and be in good health." Matsuike finished seventeenth at the 2023–24 Japan Championships.

### 2024–2025 season

Matsuike began her season at the 2024 Skate Canada International, placing tenth after the short program after a downgrade on her double Axel and fall and downgrade on her triple lutz. However, she came back in the free skate with a score of 139.85, placing first in the free program segment ahead of three-time world champion and teammate Kaori Sakamoto and taking the silver medal overall. Her rise of eight placements was the highest jump in placements seen at an ISU Grand Prix, matching that previously achieved by Amber Glenn and Jeremy Abbott. Matsuike later shared that after her "heartbreaking" short program, her mother had sent her a Line message, telling her to "always love yourself," which in turn helped give her the strength to deliver a strong free program. Following the event, Christopher Tin, the musician who composed Matsuike's free program music, praised her performance on his social media accounts.
At the 2024 Finlandia Trophy, her second Grand Prix assignment, Matsuike placed fourth after the short program following a fall on her triple flip. However, she placed first in the free skate and second overall, narrowly missing out on the gold medal to compatriot Hana Yoshida by 0.26 points.
Matsuike's two silver medal results on the Grand Prix series allowed her to qualify for the 2024–25 Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. She competed at the Grand Prix Final in December and finished in sixth place after receiving under-rotation calls on four of her jumping passes in the free skate. Matsuike said that she "really felt like I am still lacking" but that she hoped to make good use of the experience looking forward to the Japan Figure Skating Championships later in the month. Two weeks later, she competed at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, finishing in fifth place. Matsuike was subsequently named to the Four Continents team. She was also selected as the first alternate for the 2025 World Championship team.
In January, Matsuike competed at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea, where she finished in eleventh place.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | One Day I'll Fly Away (from Moulin Rouge!) performed by Nicole Kidman choreo. by Noriko Sato | Lux Aeterna by Christopher Tin choreo. by Lori Nichol | Ain't We Got Fun by Richard A. Whiting performed by Renee Olstead choreo. by Noriko Sato Skinny Love by Justin Vernon performed by Birdy choreo. by Kanako Murakami |
| 2023–2024 | One Day I'll Fly Away (from Moulin Rouge!) performed by Nicole Kidman choreo. by Noriko Sato | Nella Fantasia by Ennio Morricone performed by Sarah Àlainn choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla performed by Ryota Komatsu choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto | Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla performed by Ryota Komatsu choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto |
| 2022–2023 | Papa, Can You Hear Me? by Michel Legrand performed by Barbra Streisand choreo. by Noriko Sato | Nella Fantasia by Ennio Morricone performed by Sarah Àlainn choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto | Skinny Love by Justin Vernon performed by Birdy choreo. by Kanako Murakami |
| 2021–2022 | A Quoi Ca Sert l'Amour by Michel Emer performed by L' Escargot choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | Moonlight (Based on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) by Victoria Tocca, Jennifer Thomas choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | Say Something by A Great Big World, Mike Campbell performed by Pentatonix |
| 2020–2021 | The Color Purple by Quincy Jones choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | Perhaps Love by John Denver, Plácido Domingo performed by Jonathan and Charlotte choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | The Color Purple by Quincy Jones choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi Spanish Dance No. 1 (from La vida breve) by Manuel de Falla performed by Kristina & Laura choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi |
| 2019–2020 | The Color Purple by Quincy Jones choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | Dryades Pan by Karol Szymanowski Variation on an Original Theme, Op. 15 by Henryk Wieniawski choreo. by Mihoko Higuchi | |

## Competitive highlights
### Senior results

* GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
* JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
* CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
* Medals at team events are awarded for the team results only. Individual placements at team events are listed in parentheses.
Competition placements at senior level :
| Season | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
| Four Continents Championships | | 5th | | | 11th |
| Grand Prix Final | | | | | 6th |
| GP Finland | | | | | 2nd |
| GP NHK Trophy | 3rd | 6th | | | |
| GP France | | | 7th | | |
| GP Skate Canada | | | | 3rd | 2nd |
| GP Skate America | | | WD | | |
| GP Rostelecom Cup | | 8th | | | |
| Challenge Cup | | 1st | | | |
| Japan Championships | 4th | 7th | 13th | 17th | 5th |
| Japan Open | | 2nd (2nd) | | | |

### Junior results

JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International: Junior :
| Event | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 |
| Junior Worlds | | | C |
| JGP Italy | | WD | |
| JGP Latvia | | 3rd | |
| National ||||
| Japan Junior | 8th | 9th | 1st |
| WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled ||||

## Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 202.21 | 2022 Four Continents Championships |
| Short program | TSS | 66.41 | 2019 JGP Latvia |
| Short program | TES | 38.18 | 2019 JGP Latvia |
| Short program | PCS | 31.45 | 2023 Skate Canada |
| Free skating | TSS | 142.05 | 2022 Four Continents Championships |
| Free skating | TES | 76.57 | 2022 Four Continents Championships |
| Free skating | PCS | 66.55 | 2023 Skate Canada |
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. ISU Personal bests highlighted in bold.

### Senior results

Results in the 2024-25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Oct 25–27, 2024 | 2024 Skate Canada International | 10 | 52.31 | 1 | 139.85 | 2 | 192.16 |
| Nov 15–17, 2024 | 2024 Finlandia Trophy | 4 | 64.82 | 1 | 134.38 | 2 | 199.20 |
| Dec 5–8, 2024 | 2024–25 Grand Prix Final | 5 | 62.63 | 6 | 126.39 | 6 | 189.02 |
| Dec 19–22, 2024 | 2024–25 Japan Championships | 5 | 70.79 | 5 | 133.21 | 5 | 204.00 |
| Feb 19–23, 2025 | 2025 Four Continents Championships | 13 | 55.07 | 9 | 122.03 | 11 | 177.10 |
2023–2024 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 20–24, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Championships | 12 58.97 | 15 115.37 | 17 174.34 |
| October 27–29, 2023 | 2023 Skate Canada International | 3 66.29 | 3 132.33 | 3 198.62 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 21–25, 2022 | 2022–23 Japan Championships | 20 56.01 | 13 123.84 | 13 179.85 |
| November 4–6, 2022 | 2022 Grand Prix de France | 9 57.68 | 6 118.84 | 7 176.52 |
| October 21–23, 2022 | 2022 Skate America | 8 59.50 | WD | WD |
| 2021–2022 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 24–27, 2022 | 2022 Challenge Cup | 1 74.21 | 1 150.13 | 1 224.34 |
| January 18–23, 2022 | 2022 Four Continents Championships | 8 60.16 | 3 142.05 | 5 202.21 |
| December 22–26, 2021 | 2021–22 Japan Championships | 6 72.31 | 7 126.46 | 7 198.77 |
| November 26–28, 2021 | 2021 Rostelecom Cup | 7 62.98 | 8 121.38 | 8 184.36 |
| November 12–14, 2021 | 2021 NHK Trophy | 7 63.34 | 5 122.83 | 6 186.17 |
| October 3, 2021 | 2021 Japan Open | – | 2 135.12 | 2T |
| 2020–2021 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 24–27, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Championships | 7 65.57 | 4 139.17 | 4 204.74 |
| November 27–29, 2020 | 2020 NHK Trophy | 4 65.74 | 2 133.23 | 3 198.97 |

### Junior and novice results

2020–2021 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 21–23, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships | 1 69.06 | 1 129.32 | 1 198.38 |
| 2019–2020 season ||||||
| November 15–17, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships | 3 61.91 | 14 94.79 | 9 156.70 |
| September 4–7, 2019 | 2019 JGP Latvia | 4 66.41 | 2 126.62 | 3 193.03 |
| 2018–2019 season ||||||
| November 23–25, 2018 | 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships | 7 53.62 | 10 97.00 | 8 150.62 |