*anese figure skater

Fumie Suguri (村主 章枝, Suguri Fumie, born December 31, 1980) is a *anese former compe*ive figure skater. She is a three-time World medalist, a three-time Four Continents champion, the 2003 Grand Prix Final champion, and a five-time *anese national champion.

Contents

• 1 Personal life
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 1996–97 to 2001–02
  • 2.2 2002–03 to 2005–06
  • 2.3 2006–07 to 2009–10
  • 2.4 2010–11 to present
• 3 Programs
• 4 Compe*ive highlights
  • 4.1 2011–12 to 2014–15
  • 4.2 1992–93 to 2010–11
• 5 Detailed results
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Personal life

Suguri was born in Chiba, Chiba, *an. Her younger sister, Chika, is also a figure skater. Their father was a pilot for JAL and due to his job, the family moved to Anchorage, Alaska when Suguri was three. She is bilingual in *anese and English.

Suguri graduated from Waseda University. She has a degree in social sciences.

In November 2014, Suguri came out as bisexual.

Career

Suguri began skating at age 5 in Alaska. When she returned to *an, she began formal training under coach Nobuo Sato, a ten-time *anese national champion.

In 1994, while visiting the practice rink for the 1994 World Championships, Suguri was taught the triple Lutz jump by Michelle Kwan, who was competing in the event.

1996–97 to 2001–02

Suguri became *an's national champion for the first time in 1997. Her second national *le came in the 2000–01 season. She went on to win gold at the 2001 Four Continents, becoming the first *anese woman to win the compe*ion.

In 2001–02, Suguri won her third national *le and competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where she placed 5th. A month later, she won the bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships behind Michelle Kwan and Irina *skaya. Her bronze medal at Worlds was the first medal for a *anese woman at the World Championships since Yuka Sato won the *le in 1994.

2002–03 to 2005–06

In the 2002–03 season, Suguri won her fourth national *le. She was awarded gold at Four Continents and repeated as the bronze medalist at the World Championships, this time behind Kwan and Elena Sokolova.

In 2003–04, Suguri won gold at the NHK Trophy and bronze at Cup of China, thus qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. She stood atop the podium at the Final after defeating Sasha Cohen to become the first *anese woman to take gold at the compe*ion. Suguri left Sato after the 2004 World Championships after she lost two compe*ions to Miki Ando, who was also coached by Sato at the time. She moved to Chicago in the United States to train with Oleg Vasiliev in the autumn of 2004.

In the 2004–05 season, Suguri placed fourth at both of her Grand Prix *ignments. After placing third at the *anese Championships, she won her third Four Continents *le. She finished fifth at the World Championships. After the *an Skating Federation refused to let her continue working with Vasiliev, Suguri returned to Sato and soon after Ando left him.

In the 2005–06 season, Suguri won her fifth national *le, competing against Mao Asada and Shizuka Arakawa. She placed fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and concluded her season with a silver medal at the 2006 World Championships, having finished second to Kimmie Meissner. She became the first *anese woman to earn three World Championship medals.

2006–07 to 2009–10

In the 2006–07 season, Suguri finished fourth at the *anese championships behind younger compe*ors Mao Asada, Miki Ando and Yukari Nakano, and missed a spot to the World Championships held in her home country. She competed at the Four Continents Championships but withdrew due to injury after falling on two jumps in her short program. At the end of the season, Suguri left Sato again as she felt overshadowed by Nakano, who was also training with Sato at the time.

For the 2007–08 season, Suguri decided to train in Russia with Alexander Zhulin, who had c*ographed her programs in the previous season. Due to Zhulin's marital problems, she had to spend most of her time with Igor Pashkevich. At the *anese National Championships, Suguri placed third after her short program, but she stumbled in the free program, finishing fourth overall, and, again, she missed a spot on the World Championship team.

During the 2008–09 season, Suguri chose to train with coach Nikolai Morozov in Hackensack, New Jersey. There, she was able to improve her jumping ability. Her first compe*ion of the season was Skate Canada where she placed second behind Joannie Rochette. Her next compe*ion was Cup of Russia, where she led after the short program, then placed third in the free skate, and finished third, overall. At the 2008/2009 *anese Championships she was 5th after the short program due to a fall on a triple flip. In her long program she landed five triples and scored 121.27 points, winning the long program and placing second overall behind Mao Asada. Suguri made the World team for the first time in three years. She placed 6th at the 2009 Four Continents and 8th at the 2009 World Championships.

Suguri left Morozov in the summer of 2009 to train with Alexei Mishin in Russia, saying she wanted to work on triple/triple combinations and the triple axel. Mishin neglected Suguri and she spent most of her time with Igor Pashkevich. She finished 7th at the 2010 *anese National Championships.

2010–11 to present

In March 2011, Suguri stated that she would continue competing the next season, and possibly until 2014. She began working as a regular employee in the Sports Marketing Division at Sunny Side Up and gained a sponsorship at a medical company, Yoshindo.

Suguri was unsuccessful in her effort to reach the 2011–12 *anese Nationals, finishing 12th in her qualifying compe*ion. She was dealing with an ankle injury. Suguri announced her compe*ive retirement on November 13, 2014. In 2016, she competed in her first adult skating event.

Programs

Suguri (left) with the other medalists at 2008 Skate Canada.

Compe*ive highlights

GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix

2011–12 to 2014–15

1992–93 to 2010–11

Detailed results

Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships.

• QR = Qualifying round

References

External links

• Official website
• Fumie Suguri at the International Skating Union