Shizuka Arakawa
Template:Short description Template:Infobox figure skater
Template:Nihongo is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver in 1992. She is also the second Japanese woman to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, following skier Tae Satoya. She was the only Japanese medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Arakawa retired from competitive skating following her Olympic win and began skating professionally in ice shows and exhibitions. She also works as a skating sportscaster for Japanese television.
Personal life
Arakawa was born in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, and grew up in Sendai and its suburbs. She is the only child of Koichi and Sachi Arakawa and was named Shizuka after Shizuka Gozen.<ref>にじいろジーン</ref>
In March 2000, Arakawa enrolled at Waseda University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in social sciences in 2004, while still competing as a skater. She won the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships days after completing her graduation examinations at Waseda University.<ref name=official>Shizuka Arakawa Official Web Site Profile</ref><ref name="hines-24" />
She lived and trained for a time at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut after the closure of the Konami Sports Ice Rink in Sendai, where she began her career.<ref name="official"/>
Her figure skating idols are Kristi Yamaguchi and Yuka Sato. She listens to music by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mai Kuraki (who is also a close friend of hers)<ref>Check out Kuraki Mai on 'Music Lovers'</ref><ref>Music Lovers (January 22, 2012)Template:Dead link. Nippon Television.</ref> and EXILE, and likes shopping, driving, swimming, golf and practicing marine sports. Arakawa cites gourmet cooking as one of her hobbies. She collects beanie babies, has a pet shih tzu (named Charo) and hamster (named Juntoki). She also has four dogs, named Choco, Tiramisu, Aroma and Rosa.<ref>Asahi Shimbun Digital</ref>
Arakawa was married on December 29, 2013, her 32nd birthday. Further details were not made public.<ref>Sanspo (December 29, 2013) Shizuka Arakawa marries on her 32nd birthday! Partner was not announced Template:Webarchive. Sankei Digital Inc.</ref>
On April 16, 2014, Arakawa announced that she was pregnant and expecting her first child.<ref>(April 17, 2014) Turin gold medalist Arakawa pregnant. The Japan Times.</ref> On November 6, 2014, she gave birth to her daughter.<ref>(November 12, 2014) Arakawa Shizuka gives birth to her first child. Tokyo Hive.</ref> On May 23, 2018, it was announced that she had given birth again to her son.<ref>(May 24, 2018) 荒川静香さん、第2子男児出産「何事にも精一杯力を注いで参りたい</ref>
Career
Early career
When Arakawa was 5 years old,<ref name=gs083003/> she became interested in skating and entered the Chibikko Skate School. She started ballet lessons at 7. While still 7, Arakawa began training with former Olympian Hiroshi Nagakubo, a pair skater who competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. She was landing triple Salchows at age 8.
In 1994, she began participating in Japanese national skating competitions. She was named the 1994, 1995, 1996 All Japan Junior Figure athlete. Arakawa progressed through the Japanese ranks quickly and was the first skater in Japan to win three consecutive junior national titles.<ref>全日本フィギュアスケートジュニア選手権大会 女子シングル</ref>
Senior career
Arakawa was the senior national Japanese champion in both 1998 and 1999. She made her Olympic debut when she represented Japan in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano at age 16. The Emperor and Empress of Japan attended the ladies' free skate event. She placed 13th at the Nagano Olympics. At that time, she was ranked number 2 in Japan. In 2002, Arakawa finished second at Japan's national championships and, as a result, was not named to the Japanese 2002 Winter Olympics team.
During the 2002–2003 skating season, Arakawa won the Asian Winter Games and the Winter Universiade. She earned her second consecutive silver medal at the Four Continents Championships. She took the bronze at the NHK Trophy, and placed fifth at the Cup of Russia. She qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final, where she finished fourth. She later placed third at the Japanese Nationals, marking her fifth medal from this meet, with two golds and two silvers from previous seasons.
In 2004, she won the World Championships in Dortmund, Germany, defeating Americans Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan, after landing seven clean triple jumps.<ref name="hines-24">Template:Cite book</ref> She was the third Japanese woman to win this title after Midori Ito who won in 1989 and Yuka Sato in 1994. Arakawa had planned to retire after the 2004 World Championships, but her victory there convinced her to change her plans.
In 2005, Arakawa won the NHK Trophy and came in second place at the Grand Prix Finals.<ref name="hines-24" /> At the 2005 World Championships, Arakawa finished 9th, a disappointment which she later credited as a motivation to stay in the sport and regain top form. She felt she could not quit on such a down note. In November 2005, Arakawa changed coaches to Nikolai Morozov.Template:Citation needed
2006 Winter Olympics
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Arakawa skated in the short program to Fantaisie-Impromptu by Chopin. She went into the long program in third place, behind pre-event favorites Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. Less than a point separated the top three skaters. In the long program, Cohen was the first of the three leaders to skate, followed by Arakawa and Slutskaya. Cohen made two major mistakes during her long program, leaving the door open to the other leaders.
Arakawa won the free program, skating to Vanessa Mae's Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. She performed an Ina Bauer and then did a three jump combination. "Ina Bauer" became a household word in Japan as a result.<ref>THE ARAKAWA EFFECT Skater's Gold Medal Inspires Young Japanese (April 21, 2006) web-japan, April 21, 2006, accessed 2011/12/02</ref><ref name=inabauer>Trendy Japanese #12:Ina Bauer (a figure skating technique) Template:Webarchive ALC, 2006/4/5, accessed 2011/12/02</ref> Although she had planned two triple-triple combinations for the free skate, she did not perform them, doing instead a triple Lutz-double loop and a triple Salchow-double toe loop combinations. Arakawa earned a total combined score of 191.34 points, almost eight points ahead of the second-place Cohen (183.36). Like Cohen, Slutskaya made mistakes in her long program, and ended up taking bronze, leaving Arakawa as the gold medal winner, which was also Japan's only medal of the 2006 games.<ref name=sfc060224/><ref name="nytimesolympics"/><ref name="mzeigler"/> Slutskaya was third at 181.44. At age 24, Arakawa became the oldest women's Olympic skating champion in more than 80 years.<ref name="sfc060225"/> Florence "Madge" Cave Syers from the United Kingdom was the oldest when she won the Olympic title at age 27 at the 1908 Summer Olympics, which featured the first Olympic figure skating events.<ref name=syers/>
After winning her Olympic title, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called Arakawa in Turin, Italy to congratulate her. Koizumi said, "I cheered for you with excitement while I watched television. All the Japanese people are rejoicing. I give a perfect score to every bit of your performance."<ref name=sanspo/>
Post-competitive career
Arakawa retired after her Olympic victory. She continued to skate in ice shows and is a regular skating commentator on Japanese television.<ref name="showskating"/><ref name="hines-24" /> She competed at the 2006 Ice Wars on the World team. She also produces her own show, Friends on Ice,<ref name=friends/> and is a recurring cast member at Fantasy on Ice, where she performed with Mai Kuraki to the charity song "Anata ga Irukara" in 2011 amongst others.<ref name=JMN110901 /> Arakawa also does choreography.<ref name=choreographer/>
In 2006, Arakawa appeared in a Japanese TV drama, Shichinin no onna bengoshi (7 female lawyers), presented by Asahi TV. She played the role of a cool public prosecutor, Yayoi Shimasaki, in the 8th episode.
She competed in an ABC skating series "Thin Ice," aired on March 19, 2010, paired with 2006 Olympic men's silver medallist Stéphane Lambiel. They came first in the viewer's votes, and ended the series in third place, winning a total of $45,000. They skated to the songs "Get Me Bodied" by Beyoncé and "Magic" by Robin Thicke.
As a professional figure skater, she has appeared in all three previous editions of the cross-genre ice show Hyoen (2017, 2019, 2024)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> starring Olympic bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi, as well as in Hyoen's spin-off Luxe (2021).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On April 18, 2018, Arakawa was elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
In October 2024 she joined forces with Daisuke Takahashi, Kana Muramoto, Takahito Mura, Kazuki Tomono, Keiji Tanaka, Yuna Aoki, Kosho Oshima, Yuto Kishina and Rena Uezono to launch the members-only official fan community F-Ske on the platform FANICON.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Signature moves
Arakawa is known for her jumping ability, particularly her difficult triple-triple combinations, like the triple Salchow-triple toe and the triple Lutz-triple toe, sometimes combined with a double loop. She has executed triple-triple-triple combination jumps in practice, the most of which have been the triple Salchow-triple toe-triple loop combination. She has also executed the triple Lutz-triple loop combination in practice.<ref>Shizuka Arakawa Triple-Triple-Triple Combo</ref> According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, Arakawa was "remembered for her artistry".<ref name="hines-24" />
Arakawa is known for the quietness of her blades.<ref name=mzeigler/> She is also a strong spinner. She has an excellent donut spin, a difficult variation of the Camel spin, that requires great flexibility. In 2004, she added a Biellmann spin to her repertoire. Arakawa's signature spiral is a Y-spiral where she releases her free leg and completes the spiral with her leg still close to her head, without the hand assist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Her trademark move is the Ina Bauer with a full backbend.<ref name="hines-24" /> Due to Arakawa's use of this move during her free skate at the 2006 Olympics, the term "Ina Bauer" became very popular in Japan, and Arakawa's performance of it became iconic. The Ina Bauer move is often referred to in Japan by Arakawa's name.<ref name=inabauer/>
Awards and honors
- Purple Ribbon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- JOC Sports Award- Special Achievement Award (2002), Best Award (2005)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Miyagi "Citizens Award of Honor" (2006)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
- Class of 2018 inductee<ref name=":0" />
Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–2006 <ref name=bio0506b/><ref name=bio0506a/> |
|
|
|
| 2004–2005 <ref name=bio0405/> |
| ||
| 2003–2004 <ref name=bio0304/> |
|
| |
| 2002–2003 <ref name=bio0203/> |
|
| |
| 2001–2002 <ref name=bio0102/> |
|
|
|
| 2000–2001 <ref name=bio0001/> |
|
|
|
| 1999–2000 <ref name=bio0001/> |
|
Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix / Champions Series
| International<ref name=isucr/> | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Template:Tooltip | 94–95 | 95–96 | 96–97 | 97–98 | 98–99 | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | 01–02 | 02–03 | 03–04 | 04–05 | 05–06 |
| Olympics | 13th | 1st | |||||||||||
| Worlds | 22nd | 8th | 1st | 9th | |||||||||
| Four Continents | 6th | 6th | 2nd | 2nd | |||||||||
| Template:Small Final | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | ||||||||||
| Template:Small Cup of China | 3rd | ||||||||||||
| Template:Small Cup of Russia | 7th | 5th | 2nd | ||||||||||
| Template:Small Lalique/Bompard | 9th | 6th | 2nd | 3rd | |||||||||
| Template:Small Nations/Spark. | 7th | 5th | |||||||||||
| Template:Small NHK Trophy | 7th | 6th | 8th | 5th | 3rd | 1st | |||||||
| Template:Small Skate America | 9th | 4th | 3rd | ||||||||||
| Template:Small Skate Canada | 2nd | ||||||||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 2nd | 1st | |||||||||||
| St. Gervais | 2nd | ||||||||||||
| Asian Games | 2nd | 1st | |||||||||||
| Universiade | 1st | ||||||||||||
| International: Junior<ref name=isucr/> | |||||||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 8th | 7th | 8th | ||||||||||
| National | |||||||||||||
| Japan Champ. | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | WD | 3rd | |||
| Japan Jr. Champ. | 7th | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||||||
Media appearances
DVD
- 荒川静香 Moment Beautiful skating (2006) – Template:ASIN
- TORINO2006 日本女子 (2006) – Template:ASIN
Book
- Tira mi su—だから私はがんばれる! (2006)- Template:ISBN
- 金メダルへの道（2006）- Template:ISBN
- LEGEND OF THE ATHLETE荒川静香物語 (2007) – Template:ISBN
References
External links
- Shizuka-Arakawa.comTemplate:In lang
- International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury
- Template:Isu name
- Japan Skates – Website dedicated to the Japanese ladies figure skating team featuring news, rare photos and exclusive interviews
- 1981 births
- People from Shinagawa
- Living people
- Japanese female single skaters
- Waseda University alumni
- Olympic figure skaters for Japan
- Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Sportspeople from Sendai
- Figure skaters from Tokyo
- Olympic gold medalists for Japan
- Olympic medalists in figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships medalists
- Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
- Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Asian Games medalists in figure skating
- Figure skaters at the 1999 Asian Winter Games
- Figure skaters at the 2003 Asian Winter Games
- Medalists at the 1999 Asian Winter Games
- Medalists at the 2003 Asian Winter Games
- Asian Games gold medalists for Japan
- Asian Games silver medalists for Japan
- Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
- Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating
- Season-end world number one figure skaters
- Figure skating commentators
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan
- Medalists at the 2003 Winter Universiade
- Fantasy on Ice main cast members
- 21st-century Japanese sportswomen