# Shunsuke Nakamura (figure skater)

Shunsuke Nakamura (中村俊介, Nakamura Shunsuke, born 8 June 2005) is a Japanese figure skater. He is a five-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist and the 2023 Japanese Junior National champion.

## Personal life

Nakamura was born on June 8, 2005, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. In 2024, Nakamura graduated from Chukyo High School. He then enrolled into the Faculty of Commerce at Doshisha University.
His figure skating idols are Daisuke Takahashi and Kazuki Tomono.

## Career
### Early career

Nakamura began figure skating in 2010 after following his older sister into the sport. He first trained at the Meito Figure Skating Club in Aichi and was coached by Yuko Monna.
He debuted as an advanced novice skater at the 2017 Asian Open Trophy, where he won the silver medal. He went on to win bronze at the 2017–18 Japan Advanced Novice Championships and place twenty-sixth at the 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships. He finished off that season with a silver medal on the advanced novice level of the 2018 Challenge Cup.
The following season, Nakamura won a silver medal at the Asian Open Trophy on the advanced novice level for a second consecutive time. He then won silver at the 2018–19 Japan Advanced Novice Championships, before finishing fourteenth at the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships. He ended the season with an advanced novice gold medal at the 2019 Coupe du Printemps.
Prior to the 2019–20 figure skating season, Nakamura moved to Takatsuki, Osaka to train under Mie Hamada at the Kansai University Skating Club. During that season, Nakamura finished fourteenth at the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships.
In spring 2020, Hamada transferred to the Kinoshita Academy Ice Arena in Kyoto. Nakamura, in turn, relocated to Kyoto as well to continue being coached by her.
The following season, Nakamura placed sixth 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships before debuting at the senior championships, where he finished seventeenth. The next year, Nakamura finished sixth at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships and twenty-fifth at the 2021–22 Japan Senior Championships, before ending the season with a gold medal on the junior level at the 2022 Challenge Cup.

### 2022–23 season

Nakamura debuted on the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning gold at the 2022 JGP France and silver at 2022 JGP Italy. With these results, Nakamura qualified for the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. He went on to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fourth.
At the Junior Grand Prix final, Nakamura placed third in the short program but sixth in the free skate, dropping to fourth-place overall. One week later, he competed at the 2022–23 Japan Senior Championships where he finished eleventh. He ended the season by winning a gold medal on the junior level at the 2023 Triglav Trophy.

### 2023–24 season

Nakamura began the season by competing on 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix circuit. He first competed at 2023 JGP Japan where he finished a disappointing eighth place after placing second in the short program and twelfth in the free skate. He would see more success at 2023 JGP Armenia, where he won silver.
At the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships, Nakamura managed to win the gold medal, edging out Rio Nakata, who would go on to win the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final weeks later. Following the event, Nakamura said, "I'm happy to finally be able to win. I was nervous [about the free skate], but the practice I've been doing gave me confidence and I was able to get through it." With this result, Nakamura was selected to compete at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. The following month, Nakamura competed at the 2023–24 Japan Senior Championships, finishing in fourteenth-place.
At the World Junior Championships, Nakamura placed tenth in the short program but fourth in the free skate, finishing in fourth-place overall. Looking back on his season, Nakamura said, "It wasn't what I had imagined, and I wanted to achieve better results. It was a season with a lot to learn, and there were several competitions where I was doing well in practice, but not in the actual competition. But even in those situations, I was able to switch gears. I was able to gain a lot of experience outside of skating, and although the results weren't great, I think it was a really good season in terms of my personal growth."

### 2024–25 season

Nakamura started the season by competing on the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix circuit. He came fifth in the short program at the 2024 JGP Latvia, but moved up to third place after the free skate, claiming the bronze medal. Weeks later he won the silver medal at the 2024 JGP Turkey.
In late December, Nakamura placed eleventh at the 2024–25 Japan Championships and was subsequently named to the World Junior team.
At the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Nakamura concluded the season by finishing the event in sixth place.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | Larger Than Life Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by Backstreet Boys choreo. by Kaitlyn Weaver | Lamentations of the Heart by Philip Wesley lo Ci Saro by Andrea Bocelli, Lang Lang, David Foster, & Walter Afanasieff choreo. by Kana Muramoto | Heart Warriors by Byron Metcalf Kings by Tribe Society |
| 2023–2024 | El Conquistador by Maxime Rodriguez choreo. by Cathy Reed | Child of Nazareth by Maxime Rodriguez choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto | |
| 2022–2023 | El Conquistador by Maxime Rodriguez choreo. by Cathy Reed | Sheik by Mercan Dede choreo. by Tom Dickson | |
| 2021–2022 | Eye by coba choreo. by Cathy Reed | Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Wilhelm Backhaus choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto | |
| 2020–2021 | Austrias by Isaac Albéniz choreo. by Cathy Reed | Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Wilhelm Backhaus choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto | |

## Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International: Junior :
| Event | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Junior Worlds | | | | | | | 4th | 6th |
| JGP Final | | | | | | 4th | | |
| JGP Armenia | | | | | | | 2nd | |
| JGP France | | | | | | 1st | | |
| JGP Italy | | | | | | 2nd | | |
| JGP Japan | | | | | | | 8th | |
| JGP Latvia | | | | | | | | 3rd |
| JGP Turkey | | | | | | | | 2nd |
| Challenge Cup | | | | | 1st J | | | |
| Triglav Trophy | | | | | | 1st J | | |
| National |||||||||
| Japan | | | | 17th | 25th | 11th | 14th | 11th |
| Japan Junior | 26th | 14th | 14th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 1st | |

## Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 225.69 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
| Short program | TSS | 81.29 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
| Short program | TES | 44.20 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
| Short program | PCS | 37.82 | 2023 JGP Japan |
| Free skating | TSS | 144.40 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
| Free skating | TES | 74.04 | 2024 JGP Latvia |
| Free skating | PCS | 72.43 | 2024 World Junior Championships |
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

### Senior level

2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 19–22, 2024 | 2024–25 Japan Championships | 13 73.96 | 10 140.29 | 11 214.25 |
| 2023–24 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 20–24, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Championships | 9 80.16 | 19 127.54 | 14 207.70 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 21–25, 2022 | 2022–23 Japan Championships | 8 77.74 | 10 140.34 | 11 218.08 |
| 2021–22 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 22–26, 2021 | 2021–22 Japan Championships | 25 52.78 | – | 25 52.78 |
| 2020–21 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| December 23–27, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Championships | 18 63.97 | 16 120.04 | 17 184.01 |

### Junior level

2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 25–March 2, 2025 | 2025 World Junior Championships | 4 81.29 | 8 144.40 | 6 225.69 |
| September 18–21, 2024 | 2024 JGP Turkey | 2 75.59 | 3 129.90 | 2 205.49 |
| August 28–31, 2024 | 2024 JGP Latvia | 5 68.39 | 3 144.34 | 3 212.73 |
| 2023–24 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 26–March 3, 2024 | 2024 World Junior Championships | 10 72.85 | 4 142.61 | 4 215.46 |
| November 17–19, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships | 1 76.81 | 2 135.61 | 1 212.42 |
| October 4–7, 2023 | 2023 JGP Armenia | 2 77.30 | 3 137.37 | 2 214.67 |
| September 13–16, 2023 | 2023 JGP Japan | 2 74.04 | 12 113.84 | 8 187.88 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| April 13–16, 2023 | 2023 Triglav Trophy | 1 74.67 | 1 122.76 | 1 197.43 |
| December 8–December 11, 2022 | 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final | 3 74.81 | 6 123.83 | 4 198.64 |
| November 25–27, 2022 | 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships | 3 70.28 | 5 126.64 | 4 196.92 |
| October 12–15, 2022 | 2022 JGP Italy | 2 73.61 | 1 137.40 | 2 211.01 |
| August 24–27, 2022 | 2022 JGP France | 1 77.68 | 1 141.97 | 1 219.65 |
| 2021–22 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 24–27, 2022 | 2022 Challenge Cup | 1 78.33 | 2 133.54 | 1 211.87 |
| November 19–21, 2021 | 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships | 4 67.42 | 6 112.71 | 6 180.13 |
| 2020–21 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 21–23, 2020 | 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships | 8 66.58 | 6 115.65 | 6 182.23 |
| 2019–20 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 15–17, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships | 16 57.80 | 13 107.13 | 14 164.93 |
| 2018–19 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 23–25, 2018 | 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships | 16 48.97 | 11 100.48 | 14 149.45 |
| 2017–18 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 24–26, 2017 | 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships | 26 38.86 | – | 26 38.86 |