Yuna Aoki

Yuna Aoki (Japanese: 青木祐奈 born 10 January 2002) is a Japanese competitive figure skater. She is the 2024 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Bavarian Open silver medalist, the 2023 Triglav Trophy silver medalist, and the 2024 Challenge Cup silver medalist.
Aoki was born on January 10, 2002, in Yokohama, Japan. She graduated from Nihon University in 2024, where she earned a degree in the School of Sports Sciences.
Aoki has expressed interest in becoming a choreographer after finishing her competitive skating career.
Aoki started skating at age five after being inspired by Shizuka Arakawa's 2006 Olympic victory. Shoichiro Tsuzuki would begin coaching her at the age of six.
As an advanced novice skater, Aoki won the silver medal at the 2013–14 Japanese Novice Championships and went on to place fifteenth at the Japan Junior Championships. The following season, she won the 2024–15 Japan Novice Championships before placing fifth at the 2014–15 Japan Junior Championships. During the 2015 World Team Trophy, Aoki was invited to perform in the gala.
Shortly before the 2015–16 season, Aoki developed spondylolysis following a hard fall on a triple axel attempt in practice. This injury greatly hindered her training. Looking back on this injury, Aoki stated, "It first took a year for my spine to separate, and then another year after that. It hurt when I was skating, and even moving back and forth in my daily life hurt. Jumping hurt, and spins and other movements that require a lot of bending are a strain on my body." She further detailed how her parents tried encouraging her to quit skating due to how much pain she was in but Aoki persisted onwards due to her love for the sport.
In spite of this, Aoki debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, placing seventh at 2015 JGP Latvia. She would then go on to finish seventh at the 2015–16 Japanese Junior Championships and sixteenth at the senior championships.
Competing on the Junior Grand Prix series for a second time, Aoki finished fourth at 2016 JGP Czech Republic and fifth at 2016 JGP Germany. She then ended the season by finishing ninth at the 2016–17 Japanese Junior Championships.
Aoki began the season by finishing seventh at 2018 JGP Canada. She then placed fifth at the Japan Junior Championships and fourteenth at the senior event. Aoki went on to make her senior international debut at the 2019 Bavarian Open, where she won the silver medal.
Following the season, Aoki injured her left ankle and required surgery to treat it. This would cause her to miss the whole 2019–20 season. She would return to competition during the subsequent season and finished nineteenth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.
Competing at the 2021–22 Japan Championships the following year, Aoki placed thirtieth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate. She would later describe this to be a dark point in her life and had deliberated on whether or not she should continue skating. "Looking back, after going through a long and difficult period," Aoki later stated, "There were many times when I thought about quitting skating. I have had the support of many people and I have always loved skating. Figure skating is an indispensable part of me. I feel most confident on the ice."
Upon deciding that she wanted to continue competing, Aoki decided that she was in need of a fresh start. In April 2022, she moved from her hometown of Yokohama to Chiba so she could train under Kensuke Nakaniwa, Makoto Nakata, Momoe Naguma, and Aya Tanoue at the MF Skating Academy.
At the Japan Championships, Aoki placed tenth in the short program and sixth in the free skate, finishing in seventh place overall. This was her first time finishing in the top ten at the senior national championships.
She then competed at the 2023 Triglav Trophy, where she won the silver medal behind Hana Yoshida.
Aoki was invited to make her Grand Prix debut at the 2023 NHK Trophy, where she placed eighth in the short program after receiving three underrotation calls on jumps, though she observed that despite this she landed them "comfortably." In the free skate she received only one quarter underrotation call, placing fifth in that segment and rising to fifth place overall. Aoki said she was "very happy to have been able to show my personal skating skills without mistakes on such a big stage."
She went on to finish ninth at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, before closing her season with a silver medal win at the 2024 Challenge Cup.
Beginning her season on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, Aoki finished seventh at 2024 Skate America. She then competed at the 2024 NHK Trophy as the host pick, where she gained a new personal best short program score by over eleven points, with 69.78. Aoki finished fifth in the free skate segment, but her lead from the short program put her third overall with a new personal best total score of 195.07, successfully taking her first Grand Prix medal, and rounding out a Japanese women's podium sweep at the competition alongside Kaori Sakamoto and Mone Chiba. Following the event, Aoki expressed elation at the result saying, "I competed in the Junior Grand Prix but I never stood on the podium. So at this age, just standing on the podium, I'm so grateful for it. I'm so glad that I kept on going." Chloe Flower, the composer of Aoki's free program music, also took to her Instagram, where she praised Aoki's performance and thanked her for "bringing life to my song."
In October 2024, Aoki joined forces with Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa, Olympic bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi, Kana Muramoto, Takahito Mura, Kazuki Tomono, Keiji Tanaka, Kosho Oshima, Yuto Kishina and Rena Uezono to launch the members-only official fan community F-Ske on the platform FANICON.
Going on to compete at the 2024–25 Japan Championships in December, Aoki finished the event in fourteenth place.
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals are awarded for team results only. Bolded scores reflect an ISU personal best.