Yuka Sato

For the Japanese athletes, see Yuka Sato (triathlete), Yuka Sato (javelin thrower), and Yuka Sato (sprinter). For people with similar names, see Yuko Sato (disambiguation).

Yuka Sato (佐藤 有香, Satō Yuka, born February 14, 1973) is a Japanese former competitive figure skater and choreographer. She is the 1994 World champion, the 1990 World Junior champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Yuka Sato
Sato in 2011.
Born	(1973-02-14) February 14, 1973 (age 51) Tokyo, Japan
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Skating club	Detroit Skating Club
Retired	1994
Medal record Ladies' figure skating Representing  Japan World Championships 1994 Chiba Ladies' singles World Junior Championships 1990 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles

Yuka Sato
Japanese name
Kanji	佐藤 有香
Kana	さとう ゆか
Transcriptions Romanization Satō Yuka

Personal life

Yuka Sato was born in Tokyo to figure skating parents. Her father, Nobuo Sato, competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics and 1964 Winter Olympics while her mother, Kumiko Okawa, competed in the 1964 Winter Olympics and 1968 Winter Olympics.^[1] Her parents, as of 2011, live near Yokohama.^[2]

Sato is a graduate of Hosei University. She was married to fellow figure skater Jason Dungjen.^[1][3]

Career

Eligible career

In the 1988–89 season, Yuka Sato won the Japanese junior title to qualify for the 1989 World Junior Championships, where she placed 10th. She also qualified for Japan's senior championships, where she won the bronze medal behind Midori Ito and Junko Yaginuma. Sato was taught by her parents in Japan until she was 16. Around 1989, she moved to Canada and joined Peter Dunfield, who coached her for the next five years.^[4]

In the 1989–90 season, Sato was the Japanese junior champion for the second year in a row and the silver medalist on the senior level. She assigned to the World Junior Championships, where she won gold, and to the 1990 World Championships, where she placed 14th.

In the 1990–91 season, Sato placed fifth at the 1990 NHK Trophy and at the 1990 Nations Cup.

In the 1991–92 season, Sato won the bronze medal at the 1992 Skate America and her second silver medal at the Japanese Championships. She was sent to the 1992 Winter Olympics, where she placed seventh, and the 1992 World Championships, where she finished eighth.

In the 1992–93 season, Sato defeated Nancy Kerrigan and Chen Lu to win the 1992 Skate America. She won the silver medal at the 1992 NHK Trophy, gold at the Prague Skate, and gold at the Japanese Championships. She placed fourth at the 1993 World Championships.

In the 1993–94 season, Sato won the bronze medal at the 1993 NHK Trophy and placed sixth at the pre-Olympic Piruetten competition in Norway. She won her second Japanese national title that season to qualify for the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1994 World Championships. At the Olympics, she popped an intended triple Lutz in the short program and placed seventh in that segment of the competition. She completed six triple jumps in the free skate and finished fifth overall.

All of the Olympic medalists withdrew from the 1994 World Championships, which were held in Japan. She placed first after the technical program, with Surya Bonaly and Josee Chouinard in second and third, respectively. In the free skate, she was beaten by Bonaly 8–1 in the technical mark but won the presentation mark 8–1, and became the World champion by a 5–4 vote between the judges.

Later career

Following her win at the 1994 World Championships, Sato retired from amateur skating and began performing professionally in ice shows, including Stars on Ice. She won the 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2002 World Professional Championships and placed second at that competition in 1996 and 1998. Sato also performed as a pair skater with Jason Dungjen. She is credited as a stunt performer in the 2007 figure skating comedy motion picture Blades of Glory.

Sato has worked as a sports commentator for Japanese television.^[5] She commentated for NHK during the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the broadcast of Shizuka Arakawa's winning performance. She is a coach and choreographer at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She has coached Jeremy Abbott,^[6] Alissa Czisny,^[7] and Valentina Marchei.^[8] In addition to her coaching career she has also choreographed for several skaters. Her past and current clients include:

•   Jeremy Abbott
•   Alissa Czisny
•   Valentina Marchei
•   Mai Mihara
•   Wakaba Higuchi
•   Shun Sato
•   Joannie Rochette
•   Takahiko Kozuka
•   Yan Han
•   Vincent Zhou
•   Kaori Sakamoto

Competitive highlights

 

Yuka Sato in 2008

International
Event	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94
Olympics					7th		5th
Worlds			14th		8th	4th	1st
Skate America						1st
Skate Canada				4th	7th
Nations Cup				5th
NHK Trophy				5th		3rd	2nd
Prague Skate						1st
Piruetten							6th
International: Junior
Junior Worlds		10th	1st
National
Japan Champ.	3rd	3rd	2nd		2nd	1st	1st
Japan Jr. Champ.		1st	1st

References

1. Kany, Klaus-Reinhold (December 1, 2011). . IFS Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
2. Barnas, Jo-Ann. "" (Archive). Detroit Free Press. March 20, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2015. Article snippet
3. Gallagher, Jack (December 4, 2013). "Mao has much at stake in Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka". Japan Times.
4. Elfman, Lois (May 29, 2014). "Dunfield remembered as teacher, motivator". IceNetwork.
5. Golinsky, Reut (January 16, 2011). "Yuka Sato: skater, commentator, choreographer, coach". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
6. "2009 U.S. Champion Jeremy Abbott Announces Coaching Change". U.S. Figure Skating. May 22, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
7. Ainsworth, Alexa (May 11, 2010). "Coaching carousel round 1". Universal Sports.
8. "Valentina MARCHEI". International Skating Union. from the original on January 14, 2014.

• at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yuka Sato.

• Pairs on Ice: Yuka Sato & Jason Dungjen
• Yuka Sato on Instagram