- Source: 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.
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.
After graduating from Meguro Nihon University High School, Miura enrolled into Meiji University to study Oriental Bio in 2024. He has also expressed interest in learning English to better communicate with skaters from outside of Japan.
Career
= Early years
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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.
= 2019–20 season
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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.
= 2020–21 season
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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.
= 2021–22 season
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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.
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. 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."
On March 1, Miura was assigned to replace Yuzuru Hanyu at the 2022 World Championships. He was subsequently himself forced to withdraw due to a left quadriceps injury, and was replaced by Kazuki Tomono. 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. He rose to thirteenth overall after the free skate.
= 2022–23 season
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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.
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." 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. The two combined silver medals qualified Miura for the 2022–23 Grand Prix Final.
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." 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."
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. As a result, he was named to compete at both the 2023 Four Continents Championships and the 2023 World Junior Championships.
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. 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.
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." He went on to win the free skate by almost forty points, earning the gold medal, his second ISU championship of the year.
= 2023–24 season
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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." Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy, Miura won the gold medal.
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. 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. Struggling with a stomach ailment that curtailed his practice time, Miura finished fifth at the Grand Prix Final for the second consecutive season.
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. He was fourth as well in the free skate, finishing fourth overall, 6.92 points back of bronze medalist Yamamoto.
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."
= 2024–25 season
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Miura started the season by finishing fourth at the 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy. While at the event, he suffered an injury to his left foot in the same area where he had torn a muscle two years prior. Although Miura stated that the injury was not at risk of becoming serious and that he was given permission from his doctor to continue competing.
Going into 2024 Skate America, Miura expressed that the injury was still bothering him but that he would do his best. Despite this, he managed to deliver two strong programs, including a personal best short program, and won the bronze medal.
Going on to compete at the 2024 NHK Trophy, Miura placed second in the short program where he scored overall 100 points for the first time in an ISU competition. However, the following day, he would have a disastrous free skate, where he failed to successfully deliver any of his attempted jump elements. He would place eleventh in the free skate and dropped to sixth-place overall. Despite suffering with pain in his left thigh at the event, Miura made no excuses and was despondent during the interview following the free program. He expressed, "I don't know why [this happened]... I just don't have the skill. I'll just keep practicing so that I never experience this again." Following the gala exhibition, where Miura performed his Beauty and the Beast free program from the 2022–23 figure skating season, Miura was awarded with the "Best Performance Award."
Programs
Competitive highlights
Detailed results
= Senior level
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= Junior level
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References
External links
Kao Miura at the International Skating Union
Kao Miura at Japan Skating Federation
Kao Miura at SkatingScores.com
Kao Miura on Instagram
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