Shoma Uno Reveals His ‘Burnout’ in Canada and His ‘Concerned Future’ – “I Couldn’t Make the Decision to Quit

More than the result, it was his statement that sent shockwaves through the country: Immediately after finishing fourth at the World Figure Skating Championships held in Montreal, Canada, until March 24, and becoming the first Japanese male to miss out on three consecutive titles, Masama Uno (26, Toyota Motor Corp.) gave an interview in the mixed zone.

He was asked by a reporter about 19-year-old Ilia Malinin (USA), who came in third in the short program (SP) but scored an all-time high 227.79 points in the free skate to win the championship.

She was asked by a reporter about 19-year-old Ilia Malinin (USA), who scored 227.79 points in the free skate, the highest score in her career, and won the championship. I’m serious. I think they’re in trouble. I think he is going to build an era from now on. He is a wonderfully talented player, so I can’t think of anything else to say but “wow. I think it’s tough for everyone, but with someone like him, I think the sport will become a place where everyone can improve their technical skills and overcome difficulties, so I’m looking forward to it.

Uno answered as if he was talking about someone else.

A reporter, sensing some discomfort, immediately asked Uno, “Do you have any desire to compete there? Uno’s answer was very frank.

No, I can’t. I’ve already done my best. I have already done my best. I think I have practiced jumps more than anyone else. （Even after All-Japan (last December), I have jumped more than any other skater. Still, he has not done well in competitions, though it is partly luck, but there is no doubt that he is already skating on a different level from me. I was trying my best to fight against him, but it is an undeniable fact that my skating was not as good as what was natural for him. But I know how expressive you are, and how your jumps are so perfect. （I hope Yuma and Mullinin will work hard and compete with each other.

As for her future, she said, “I would like to face myself again. I can’t say anything definite at this moment. I would like to talk about it when I have calmed down a little more.” Everyone present at the meeting seemed to accept that a decision had been made in his mind.

I have no regrets about my practice. I did what I could do every day to the best of my ability.

Before the competition, Uno was more bullish than ever. Despite the fact that his skates had not been in perfect condition since the GP Finals last December, when he broke his skates after three years of use, and it took time to repair and adjust them.

The short program on March 21 was, indeed, a performance that warranted a few bullish words. Uno’s quadruple flip, which has been lacking in rotation this season, was impeccably beautiful, from the height of the leap to the smooth landing of the ice, and she praised herself, “I jumped the best flip I have ever done. Uno’s quadruple toeloop, triple toeloop, and triple axel in the second half of her routine were also brilliantly executed, and her spins and steps were marked Level 4, the highest difficulty level.

He was praised by his coach, Stéphane Lambiel (39), who greeted him at the rink side and hugged him, calling him a “beautiful program”. Uno, too, was unintentionally amused by his “ 107.72,” the highest score in the world this season: “I was performing with my eyes full, so it was a great short program.

Uno was also surprised to hear that her performance was “great,” as she “had my heart in my mouth.” She was in first place in the SP, the pinnacle of the competition, with no mistakes by contenders Kagiyama and Malinin.

He fell on his quadruple loop and landed on his hands on the ice on his quadruple flip. He made a series of big mistakes in the early scoring, putting him in a tight spot. He was unable to stop the bad trend, and his triple axel jump in the second half of his performance was also a disaster, as he landed a triple flip at the end of the triple jump.

Immediately after her performance, she laughed bitterly and said to herself, “I won’t look back at today’s free skate for about 10 years,” but she seemed to have blown it out of the water.

I think I have practiced so much that I don’t think about what I should have done better,” she said. I think I have practiced so much that I don’t think, ‘I should have done this better,’ or ‘I should have done that better. Even though I had done so much, I couldn’t fully adjust at the most important moment, but also, the short program was quite good for me, so it was a memorable competition, and I feel refreshed.

On the 24th, one night after the Free Skate, she spoke for the first time about her struggles after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

With the Beijing Olympics as a turning point, two-time consecutive Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu (29) turned pro, and Beijing Olympics gold medalist Nathan Chen (24) took a break. With the departure of these two athletes, who had been his greatest goals and motivation, “I think it became quite difficult for me to maintain the spirit of a true competitor when they left the sport,” he said.

Uno was perplexed by the fact that she suddenly became the leader of the competition, “I managed to keep it together for the past two years out of a sense of duty, and to be honest, I couldn’t make a decision to quit this season, so I kept going,” she said.

Under such circumstances, Uno found meaning in continuing to compete, as Hanyu and Chen did, to be a role model for younger skaters. Then came the emergence of Malinin, the standard-bearer of the new generation. Seeing this, Uno must have felt a sense of relief, not a sense of struggle. Uno’s own words reveal how difficult it has been for him to maintain his motivation this season.

I really wanted to be a good person for you, Malinin, but I couldn’t really “win,” maybe because of my age, or maybe because of Nathan’s and Yuzukuri’s presence in my life,” she said.

Will we be able to see Uno’s performance in competition next season? Will we be able to see Uno perform in competition next season, or will he choose a new path as a professional? All eyes are on the top Japanese skater’s choice.