Riona Kato

Riona Kato (加藤 利緒菜, Katō Riona), born February 7, 1998) is a Japanese figure skater. She has won four senior international medals.

Riona Kato
Native name	加藤利緒菜
Born	(1998-02-07) February 7, 1998 (age 25) Osaka, Japan
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Coach	Yukari Kato, Anthony Liu
Skating club	Nagaodani High School
Began skating	2001

Personal life

Riona Kato was born in Osaka, Japan.^[1] She trained in gymnastics as a child.^[2]

Career

On the ice from the age of two years and eight months, Riona Kato was encouraged by her aunt, Yukari Kato, a skating coach.^[2] She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2011.

In 2013, Kato began training in California, coached by Anthony Liu as well as her aunt.^[2] She won a bronze medal at the 2013 JGP in Slovakia. Her first senior international was the Triglav Trophy at the end of the 2013–14 season, where she placed 4th.

2014–15 season

Kato began the 2014–15 season by winning two senior medals, silver at the Asian Trophy and bronze at a Challenger Series event, the U.S. Classic.^[3] Making her Grand Prix debut, she finished 5th at the 2014 NHK Trophy and earning a personal best of 117.51 in the freeskate. She then went on to finish 7th at the 2015 Japanese Championships.

2015–16 season

For the 2015-16 Grand Prix series, Kato was assigned to compete at 2015 Rostelecom Cup.^[4]

She started her season by finishing 5th at the 2015 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy.

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2018–2019 ^[5]	Miserlou by Caroline Campbell choreo. by Misha Ge	Violin Sonata No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven choreo. by Derrick Delmore
2017–2018
2016–2017
2015–2016 ^[6]	Cherry on the Ice Wall (from Bahrein) by Princesses of Violin choreo. by Miki Sagakami, Phillip Mills	My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe Once Upon a Mattress by Mary Rodgers I Could Have Danced All Night performed by Martine McCutcheon choreo. by Miki Sagakami, Phillip Mills
2014–2015 ^[1]	The Flower Duet (from Lakmé) by Léo Delibes choreo. by Phillip Mills	Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff choreo. by Phillip Mills	The Show by Lenka
2013–2014 ^[7]	The Flower Duet (from Lakmé) by Léo Delibes choreo. by Phillip Mills	Elizabeth: The Golden Age by Craig Armstrong and A. R. Rahman choreo. by Phillip Mills
2011–2012 ^[8]	Salut d'Amour by Edward Elgar	In a Trance 80's Anthem Asturias (Leyenda) by Isaac Albéniz

Competitive highlights

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

International^[3]
Event	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19
GP NHK Trophy							5th
GP Rostelecom								10th
CS Nepela Trophy								5th
CS U.S. Classic							3rd
CS Warsaw Cup									10th
Asian Trophy							2nd	2nd
Coupe Printemps							2nd
Triglav Trophy						4th
International: Junior^[3]
JGP Czech Rep.						4th
JGP Latvia				11th
JGP Slovakia						3rd
Printemps					1st
National^[9]
Japan Champ.					6th	13th	7th	20th		23rd	29th
Japan Jr. Champ.		7th	26th	25th	2nd	7th
Japan Nv. Champ.	5th B	3rd A	1st A
WD = Withdrew

References

1. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
2. Gallagher, Jack (December 2, 2014). "Kato made impact in first outing at senior Grand Prix". The Japan Times.
3. "Competition Results: Riona KATO". International Skating Union.
4. (PDF). ISU Prod. ISU. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
5. "加藤 利緒菜 ｜ スケート∞リンク ～フジスケ～". フジテレビ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-06-10.
6. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
8. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
9. "加藤 利緒菜/KATO Riona" (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. from the original on November 29, 2014.

External links

• Riona Kato at the International Skating Union