Kao Miura

Kao Miura (三浦 佳生, Miura Kao, born June 8, 2005) is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2023 World Junior Champion, 2023 Four Continents champion, the 2022 Four Continents bronze medalist, a four-time ISU Grand Prix medalist, and the 2021–22 Japan junior national champion.

Kao Miura
Miura at the 2024 World Championships
Native name	三浦 佳生
Born	(2005-06-08) June 8, 2005 (age 18) Tokyo, Japan
Hometown	Yokohama
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Coach	Noriko Sato Nobuko Fukui Koji Okajima
Skating club	OrientalBio Meguro Nihon University High School
Began skating	2009
Medal record Figure skating: Men's singles Representing  Japan Four Continents Championships 2023 Colorado Springs Men's singles 2022 Tallinn Men's singles World Junior Championships 2023 Calgary Men's singles

Personal life

Miura was born on June 8, 2005, in Tokyo, Japan. As of 2018, he is a junior high school student in Yokohama. His hobbies are watching anime and baseball matches.^[1]

Career

Early years

Miura began skating in 2009. As the 2017 Japanese national novice champion, he was invited to skate in the gala at the 2017 NHK Trophy.

2019–2020 season

Miura made his Junior Grand Prix debut at Latvia and finished in seventh place. At 14, he became the youngest Japanese skater to land a quadruple toe loop in international competition with a successful attempt at the event's free skate.^[2]

2020–2021 season

Miura won the silver medal in 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships. Four days after the junior national championships, he made his Grand Prix debut at 2020 NHK Trophy and placed sixth. He was seventh at the senior national championships.^[2]

2021–2022 season

Miura was assigned to the Grand Prix at the 2021 NHK Trophy, where he finished eighth. He called the competition "a lot of fun" and without pressure.^[3]

At the 2021–22 Japan Championships in December, Miura finished in fourth place in the senior event after winning gold in the junior event the previous month. He was named as an alternate for the Japanese Olympic team and sent to make his ISU championship debut at the 2022 Four Continents Championships and the 2022 World Junior Championships.^[4] Miura won the bronze medal at Four Continents, his first ISU championship medal, saying "I think I was able to show the world what kind of a skater I am. Of course, there were some mistakes I made, but even with the mistakes, I was able to put on a good performance and round it off as I did today, so I'm very happy."^[5]

On March 1, Miura was assigned to replace Yuzuru Hanyu at the 2022 World Championships.^[6] He was subsequently himself forced to withdraw due to a left quadriceps injury, and was replaced by Kazuki Tomono.^[7] At the time of his withdrawal, Miura indicated that he hoped to recover in time to compete at the World Junior Championships scheduled for a few weeks later in mid-April. Multiple jump errors in the short program lead to his placing twentieth in that segment with a score of 60.03.^[8] He rose to thirteenth overall after the free skate.^[2]

2022–2023 season

Miura was invited to participate as part of Team Japan in the Japan Open following Yuma Kagiyama's withdrawal due to injury, finishing third in the men's competition while the team won gold.^[9]

Competing in the Grand Prix for his third season, and outside Japan for the first time, Miura's first assignment was the 2022 Skate America in Norwood. He unexpectedly placed first in the short program, aided by an error by pre-event favourite Ilia Malinin, and took the silver medal overall. He said that he "was in top form coming in, so I was able to do very well here."^[10] He placed first in the short program again at the 2022 Skate Canada International the following weekend, this time overtaking reigning world champion Shoma Uno and placed second in the free skate, earning his second consecutive Grand Prix silver medal.^[11] The two combined silver medals qualified Miura for the 2022–23 Grand Prix Final.^[12]

At the Final in Turin, Miura placed third in the short program despite falling on his jump combination, part of a Japanese sweep of the top three placements in that segment. He explained his error as having "panicked because my first jump was so good, and that's something I need to reflect on."^[13][14] He struggled in the free skate, tripling or doubling two planned quad jumps and falling on a third. He finished sixth in that segment and dropped to fifth overall. Very disappointed with the results and blaming a lack of focus, he said he hoped to "connect this frustration with the nationals and win and give it all."^[15][16]

Miura had a poor showing in the short program at the 2022–23 Japan Championships, falling on both of his attempted quad jumps. He placed thirteenth in that segment, well back of the leaders. He rallied in the free skate, placing second in that segment, sufficient to rise to sixth overall.^[17] As a result, he was named to compete at both the 2023 Four Continents Championships and the 2023 World Junior Championships.^[18]

At the 2023 Four Continents Championships Miura went into the event as one of the favorites for the podium along with Cha Jun-hwan of Korea, Keegan Messing of Canada, and compatriot Shun Sato. Miura had a shaky landing on his opening quad Salchow, but rallied to win the short program.^[19][20] After strong free skates by Sato and Messing, Miura needed to skate clean, and he did, landing all of his elements cleanly to achieve a new season's best score in the free program and overall to win the title.^[21][22]

Miura entered the World Junior Championships in Calgary as the favourite for the gold medal, and won the short program with a clean skate, placing five points clear of second-place Canadian skater Wesley Chiu. Referencing his poor short program at the previous year's event, he opined that he was able to "funnel that frustration into a good performance today."^[23] He went on to win the free skate by almost forty points, earning the gold medal, his second ISU championship of the year.^[24]

2023–2024 season

Following what he considered disappointments in the previous season, Miura vowed to change his mindset, with the goal of winning the national title and reaching the World Championship podium. He worked with choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne on a free skate to music from Attack on Titan, saying that he would be "acting as if I were fighting as a member of the Survey Corps."^[25] Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy, Miura won the gold medal.^[2]

On the Grand Prix, Miura came fourth in the short program after doubling a planned quad toe loop. He went on to win the free skate, despite a triple Axel fall, rising to second place. He finished less than a point back of gold medalist Sōta Yamamoto.^[26] He went on to win his second event, the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, coming first in the short program and second in the free skate and beating another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, by 1.22 points.^[27] Struggling with a stomach ailment that curtailed his practice time, Miura finished fifth at the Grand Prix Final for the second consecutive season.^[28]

Miura dealt with stomach trouble in the leadup to the short program at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, but managed to place fourth in the segment, cleanly landing all his jumps before two spin errors cost him points.^[29] He was fourth as well in the free skate, finishing fourth overall, 6.92 points back of bronze medalist Yamamoto.^[30]

Miura finished the season at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, where he came tenth in the short program after failing to execute his jump combination. He rose to eighth overall in the free skate, despite falling twice on quadruple jumps. Miura was pessimistic afterward, saying: "I feel bad for taking one of the three spots we had at the World Championships due to my poor performance."^[31]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2023–2024 ^[32]	This Place Was a Shelter by Ólafur Arnalds choreo. by Benoît Richaud	Attack on Titan: Ətˈæk 0N tάɪtn omake-pfadlib by Hiroyuki Sawano Ashes on the Fire by Kohta Yamamoto choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne	Natural by Imagine Dragons
2022–2023 ^[33]	Michelangelo '70 Muerte Del Angel by Astor Piazzolla choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto	Beauty and the Beast: Main Title (Prologue) by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice Evermore performed by Dan Stevens Transformations Beauty and the Beast (Finale) by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice choreo. by Eiji Iwamoto The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber choreo. by Kohei Yoshino	Suit by Taro Hakase and →Pia-no-jaC←
2021–2022 ^[34]	Four Seasons: Winter by Antonio Vivaldi choreo. by Noriko Sato	Preludio Nada Pude Dormir Marinera de Lavante Amor Dulce Muerte Poeta en El Viento by Vicente Amigo choreo. by Eiji Iwamoto	Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran choreo. by Noriko Sato Rise by Safri Duo choreo. by Luca Lanotte
2020–2021 ^[35]	Feeling Good by Leslie Bricusse performed by Michael Bublé choreo. by Noriko Sato	The Last Samurai: A Way of Life Spectres in the Fog A Hard Teacher Red Warrior The Way of the Sword by Hans Zimmer choreo. by Eiji Iwamoto	Piano Man by Billy Joel
2019–2020 ^[36]	Rise by Safri Duo choreo. by Luca Lanotte	The Bells of Notre Dame (from The Hunchback of Notre Dame) by Alan Menken choreo. by Misao Sato

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2019–20 season to present

International^[2]
Event	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23	23–24
Worlds			WD		8th
Four Continents			3rd	1st
GP Final				5th	5th
GP Finland					1st
GP NHK Trophy		6th	8th
GP Skate America				2nd
GP Skate Canada				2nd	2nd
CS Finlandia					1st
Tallink Hotels Cup					1st
International: Junior^[2]
Junior Worlds			13th	1st
JGP Latvia	7th
National^[2]^[37]
Japan		7th	4th	6th	4th
Japan Junior	8th	2nd	1st
Japan Eastern Sect.	2nd J	1st J	1st J
Kanto Reg.	2nd J	1st J
Tokyo Reg.			1st J	2nd	3rd
Team events
Japan Open				1st T 3rd P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled Levels: J = Junior T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Earlier career

International: Advanced novice
Event	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19
Asian Open				1st
Bavarian Open				1st
National^[2]
Japan Junior				13th	8th
Japan Novice	6th B	4th B	4th A	1st A
Japan Eastern Sect.					4th J
Kanto Reg.			1st A	1st A	3rd J
Tokyo Reg.	1st B	1st B
Levels: A = Novice A; B = Novice B; J = Junior

Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System ^[37]

Segment	Type	Score	Event
Total	TSS	281.53	2023 Four Continents
Short program	TSS	94.96	2022 Skate America
	TES	54.81	2022 Skate America
	PCS	41.36	2023 CS Finlandia Trophy
Free skating	TSS	189.63	2023 Four Continents
	TES	102.02	2023 Four Continents
	PCS	87.61	2023 Four Continents

Small medals for short and free programs are awarded only at ISU Championships. Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

Senior level

2023–2024 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 18-24, 2024	2024 World Championships	10 85.00	7 169.72	8 254.72
February 15-18, 2024	2024 Tallink Hotels Trophy	1 99.58	1 143.37	1 242.95
December 20–24, 2023	2023–24 Japan Championships	4 93.91	4 186.17	4 280.08
December 7–10, 2023	2023–24 Grand Prix Final	4 94.86	5 166.67	5 261.53
November 17–19, 2023	2023 Grand Prix of Espoo	1 93.54	2 181.02	1 274.56
October 27–29, 2023	2023 Skate Canada International	4 80.80	1 177.09	2 257.89
October 4-8, 2023	2023 CS Finlandia Trophy	1 90.95	1 176.86	1 267.81
2022–23 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 7–12, 2023	2023 Four Continents Championships	1 91.90	1 189.63	1 281.53
December 21–25, 2022	2022–23 Japan Championships	13 71.12	2 171.43	6 242.55
December 8–11, 2022	2022–23 Grand Prix Final	3 87.07	6 158.67	5 245.74
October 28–30, 2022	2022 Skate Canada	1 94.06	2 171.23	2 265.29
October 21–23, 2022	2022 Skate America	1 94.96	2 178.23	2 273.19
October 8, 2022	2022 Japan Open	-	3 169.94	1T 3P
2021–22 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	3 88.37	3 162.70	3 251.07
December 22–26, 2021	2021–22 Japan Championships	5 92.81	4 183.35	4 276.16
November 12–14, 2021	2021 NHK Trophy	8 76.62	7 156.27	8 232.89
2020–21 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
December 23–27, 2020	2020–21 Japan Championships	13 67.61	5 153.65	7 221.26
November 27–29, 2020	2020 NHK Trophy	8 66.84	2 143.69	6 210.53

Junior level

2022–23 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2023	2023 World Junior Championships	1 85.11	1 179.63	1 264.74
2021–22 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
April 13–17, 2022	2022 World Junior Championships	20 60.03	8 137.56	13 197.59
November 19–21, 2021	2021–22 Japan Junior Championships	7 64.00	1 165.28	1 229.28
2020–21 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 21–23, 2020	2020–21 Japan Junior Championships	5 71.56	1 136.15	2 207.71
2019–20 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 15–17, 2019	2019–20 Japan Junior Championships	15 57.86	4 122.54	8 180.40
September 4–7, 2019	2019 JGP Riga Cup	10 59.94	5 125.56	7 185.50

References

1. Introducing strengthened players by the Japan Skating Federation - Kao Miura
2. "Competition Results: Kao MIURA". International Skating Union.
3. Slater, Paula (November 13, 2021). "Shoma Uno defends NHK Trophy title". Golden Skate.
4. Slater, Paula (December 26, 2021). "Yuzuru Hanyu reigns in Saitama". Golden Skate.
5. Slater, Paula (January 23, 2022). "Third time's the charm for Junhwan Cha". Golden Skate.
6. "Injured skating star Hanyu to miss world championships". Yahoo! Sports. March 1, 2022.
7. "三浦佳生選手世界フィギュアスケート選手権大会欠場について" [Regarding Kao Miura's absence from the World Figure Skating Championships] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. March 17, 2022.
8. Gallagher, Jack (April 15, 2022). "Ilia Malinin Moves Out to Big Lead at World Junior Championships; Tatsuya Tsuboi in Fifth". Japan Forward.
9. Shintaro, Kano (October 8, 2022). "Quad Axel master Ilia Malinin shines among figure skating's brightest stars at Japan Open". Olympic Channel.
10. Slater, Paula (October 23, 2022). "Malinin takes Skate America gold with spectacular quad Axel". Golden Skate.
11. Slater, Paula (October 29, 2022). "Uno rallies to take third Skate Canada gold". Golden Skate.
12. Gallagher, Jack (November 15, 2022). "Mai Mihara Captures Her First Grand Prix Title with A Sublime Showing | SportsLook". Japan Forward.
13. "World Champion Uno leads Japanese sweep of Men's Short Program". International Skating Union. December 8, 2022.
14. Slater, Paula (December 9, 2022). "Uno leads men in Japanese sweep at Grand Prix Final". Golden Skate.
15. Slater, Paula (December 11, 2022). "Uno wins first Grand Prix Final gold". Golden Skate.
16. "World Champion Uno (JPN) proves his class with ISU Grand Prix Final gold". International Skating Union. December 10, 2022.
17. Slater, Maria-Laura Mitsuoka (December 25, 2022). "Shoma Uno wins the fifth national title". Golden Skate.
18. Gallagher, Jack (December 27, 2022). "Shoma Uno is Unhappy with Team Selection Process for World Championships". Japan Forward.
19. "Kao Miura (JPN) skates into five-point lead in Colorado Springs". International Skating Union. February 9, 2023.
20. Slater, Paula (February 10, 2023). "Kao Miura takes five-point lead". Golden Skate.
21. "Miura (JPN) flies high to take gold and electric Messing (CAN) medals at last". International Skating Union. February 11, 2023.
22. Slater, Paula (February 12, 2023). "Japan's Kao Miura takes Four Continents gold". Golden Skate.
23. "Kao Miura (JPN) wins Men's Short Program at ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships". International Skating Union. March 3, 2023.
24. "Kao Miura (JPN) crushes competition for Junior World title". International Skating Union. March 5, 2023.
25. "三浦佳生「心臓をささげるつもり」全日本王者へ新フリー「進撃の巨人」　フィギュア全日本合宿". Sponichi. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
26. Slater, Paula (October 29, 2023). "Sota Yamamoto captures first Grand Prix gold". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
27. Gallagher, Jack (November 21, 2023). "Kaori Sakamoto Books Ticket to Grand Prix Final with Win in Finland". Japan Forward. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
28. Gallagher, Jack (December 10, 2023). "Ilia Malinin Triumphs in Grand Prix Final with Stellar Showing; Shoma Uno is 2nd". Japan Forward. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
29. Gallagher, Jack (December 22, 2023). "Shoma Uno Returns to Form with a Smooth Short Program at the Japan Championships". Japan Forward. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
30. Gallagher, Jack (December 24, 2023). "Shoma Uno Equals Yuzuru Hanyu with Sixth Victory at the Japan Championships". Japan Forward. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
31. Slater, Paula (March 24, 2024). "Ilia Malinin soars to new heights in Montreal". Golden Skate. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
32. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023.
33. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022.
34. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021.
35. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021.
36. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019.
37. "JPN-Kao MIURA". SkatingScores.

External links

• Kao Miura at the International Skating Union
• Kao Miura at SkatingScores.com
• Kao Miura on Instagram
• Kao Miura on Twitter