Uno Shoma: "I feel my second life as a figure skater has finally begun"

The fall of 2019 was a turning point for two-time Olympic figure skating medallist Uno Shoma of Japan.

Uno had left long-time coach Yamada Machiko and Higuchi Mihoko earlier in the year, and two seasons after winning silver at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, nothing seemed to be working.

He sat alone in the kiss and cry after a tough free skate at the Internationaux de France, the first of his two Grand Prix assignments. He’d fallen three times and had two other major issues in his program set to music that seemed all too appropriate: a cover of Robyn’s ‘Dancing on My Own.’

Uno wasn’t sure what lay ahead for him in figure skating – or even how much longer his career could continue. He felt that if his time in the sport was coming to a close, he could at least end it on a happy note working with Stephane Lambiel, the two-time world champion turned coach with whom he had spent some training time.

“The main reason I wanted to join Stephane’s team was that I felt my career as a figure skater wouldn’t be much longer and wanted to just enjoy it,” he told Olympics.com during an exclusive interview at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. “I thought I could end my figure skating life with joy if I skated under Stephane.”

But the partnership – announced shortly after that disappointing competition – quickly erased any thoughts of an end to Uno’s career.

“I started to feel I want to produce better results and become a better skater to make Stephane happy,” said Uno. “Even though I don’t really understand English, I can feel with my heart that he wants me to aim higher. So that really changed my goal.”

And aim higher he certainly did, as Uno soared to his fourth-straight Japanese title in December 2019.

He was chosen to compete