Yuka Orihara (折原 裕香, Orihara Yuka, born 26 June 2000) is a Japanese ice dancer who competes for Finland. With her current partner, Juho Pirinen, she is the 2019–20 Finnish national champion and a three-time Finnish national silver medalist (2021–24).[1]
| Yuka Orihara | |
|---|---|
 Orihara/Pirinen performing their rhythm dance at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy | |
| Other names | 折原 裕香 紀藤 裕香 |
| Born | June 26, 2000 Tokyo, Japan |
| Hometown | Helsinki, Finland |
| Height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country |  Finland (since 2019) Canada (2018–2019)  Japan (until 2018) |
| Partner | Juho Pirinen (since 2019) Lee Royer (2018–2019) Kanata Mori (2016–2018) |
| Coach | Maurizio Margaglio Neil Brown |
| Skating club | Helsinki FSC |
| Began skating | 2006 |
Personal life
editOrihara was born on June 26, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan.[2] Her mother, Shizuko, is a known costume designer in Japan, who in addition to designing her daughter's figure skating costumes, has also designed costumes for several known Japanese skaters including Yuzuru Hanyu,[3] Shoma Uno,[4] Kaori Sakamoto,[5] Wakaba Higuchi,[6] and Marin Honda.[7][8][9]
She originally competed under the name Yuka Kito (紀藤 裕香, Kito Yuka) before deciding to compete under her mother's last name in 2016.[8][10][11]
In 2019, Orihara graduated from Renaissance High School in Daigo, Ibaraki, Japan.[12][13] She is multilingual and able to communicate in Japanese, English, and Finnish fluently.[14][15]
Career
editEarly career
editOrihara began figure skating in 2006 at the age of six. While skating for Japan, she represented Musashino Senior High School.[16][11] Originally a singles skater, she competed at the 2012–13 and 2014–15 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fifteenth and fourteenth respectively.[17]
In 2016, after deciding that she wanted to give ice dance a try, Orihara teamed up with Kanata Mori. The duo would skate together for two seasons.[18][10] Orihara/Mori would win silver at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships and go on to place fourth on the senior level at the 2016–18 Japan Championships. Their final competition together was the 2018 Mentor Toruń Cup, where they finished eleventh.[18]
Due to the lack of training rinks to practice ice dance in Japan, Orihara decided to move to British Columbia, Canada after a Japanese skating coach introduced her to Canadian ice dance coaches, Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe. Soon after, she would team up with Canadian ice dancer, Lee Royer.[13][19] Together, they compete at the 2019 Canadian Junior Championships where they finished fifth. Unfortunately, their partnership would soon dissolve after only one season together.[20]
Partnership with Pirinen
edit2019–20 season
edit
In spring 2019, Finland-based Italian ice dance coach, Maurizio Margaglio, who is acquainted with Orihara's then coaching team, contacted them, requesting that Orihara travel to Helsinki to have a try-out with his then partnerless student, Juho Pirinen. Orihara agreed to this request and following a successful tryout, she soon moved to Finland to train with Pirinen.[15][8]
Deciding to represent Finland, the duo made their international debut at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy, where they finished eleventh. They then continued competing on the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fifth at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup and seventh at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy.[21] Orihara/Pirinen would also win bronze at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup and the 2019 Santa Claus Cup.[1]
With top Finnish ice dancing team, Turkkila/Versluis not competing at the 2019–20 Finnish Championships, Orihara/Pirinen won the event by over forty points.[22]
Selected to compete at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria, the duo came in eighteenth place. They then closed their season with a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Egna Dance Trophy.[21][1]
2020–21 season
editAlthough Orihara/Pirinen were assigned to make their Grand Prix series debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]
The duo would not compete for the rest of the season.[1]
2021–22 season
editCompeting on the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series, Orihara/Pirinen finished fifteenth at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy and twelfth at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy. They would follow it up with a fourth-place finish and a gold medal at the 2021 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and the 2021 NRW Trophy, respectively.[21][1]
In December, Orihara/Pirinen won the silver medal at the 2021–22 Finnish Championships. They would end their season with another silver medal at the 2022 International Challenge Cup.[1]
2022–23 season
edit
Beginning their season on the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series, Orihara/Pirinen placed fourth at the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial and sixth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. They subsequently finished fourth at the 2022 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur.[21][1]
Debuting on the 2022–23 Grand Prix series, the duo finished eighth at the 2022 NHK Trophy and seventh at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.[21][1]
In December, they won their second consecutive silver medal at the 2022–23 Finnish Championships. Orihara/Pirinen would then end their season by winning silver at the 2022 Bavarian Open and bronze at the 2022 International Challenge Cup.[21][1]
2023–24 season
edit
Orihara/Pirinen started the season by competing 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series, finishing sixth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial and at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy. They subsequently took gold at the 2023 Mezzaluna Cup.[21][1]
Going on to compete at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, Orihara/Pirinen finished sixth. They then won silver at the 2023–24 Finnish Championships. Selected to compete at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, the duo finished tenth.[21][1]
With Finland having two berths for ice dance at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Orihara/Pirinen would make their World Championship debut in March, coming in sixteenth place.[24][21]
2024–25 season
editOrihara/Pirinen began the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fourth at both the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy and the 2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, they finished sixth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.[21]
Programs
editIce dance with Pirinen
edit| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–2025 [25] |
|
|
|
| 2023–2024 [2] |
|
|
|
| 2022–2023 [26] |
|
|
|
| 2021–2022 [27] |
|
|
|
| 2020–2021 [28] |
|
||
| 2019–2020 [29] |
|
Competitive highlights
edit.jpg)
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
Ice dance with Pirinen for Finland
edit| International[21][1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Worlds | 16th | |||||
| Europeans | 18th | 10th | ||||
| GP Finland | 7th | 6th | TBD | |||
| GP France | C | |||||
| GP NHK Trophy | 8th | 6th | ||||
| CS Budapest | 4th | |||||
| CS Denis Ten Memorial | WD | |||||
| CS Finlandia | 7th | 12th | 6th | 6th | ||
| CS Lombardia | 11th | 15th | ||||
| CS Ondrej Nepela | 5th | 4th | 6th | |||
| CS Trophée Métropole Nice | 4th | 4th | 4th | |||
| CS Warsaw Cup | 5th | |||||
| Bavarian Open | 2nd | |||||
| Challenge Cup | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
| Egna Trophy | 5th | |||||
| Mezzaluna Cup | 1st | |||||
| NRW Trophy | 1st | |||||
| Santa Claus Cup | 3rd | |||||
| Volvo Open Cup | 3rd | |||||
| National[21][1] | ||||||
| Finnish Champ. | 1st | C | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | |
Ice dance with Royer for Canada
edit| National[20] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 18–19 |
| Canadian Champ. | 5th J |
Ice dance with Mori for Japan
edit| International[18] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Event | 16–17 | 17–18 |
| Mentor Toruń Cup | 11th | |
| National[18] | ||
| Japan Champ. | 2nd J | 4th |
| Japan Eastern Sect. | 2nd J | 2nd |
Women's singles for Japan
edit| International[30][17][31] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 12–13 | 12–13 | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 |
| Coupe du Printemps | 9th A | ||||
| National[32][17][31] | |||||
| Japan Junior | 15th | 14th | |||
| Japan Eastern Sect. | 11th J | 3rd J | 15th J | 15th | |
| Japan Novice | 4th A | ||||
| Tokyo Reg. | 2nd A | 7th J | 3rd J | 6th J | 10th |
| Levels: J = Junior; A = Advanced Novice | |||||
Detailed results
editIce dance with Juho Pirinen
edit| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 180.40 | 2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur |
| Rhythm dance | TSS | 71.56 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup |
| TES | 41.40 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup | |
| PCS | 31.04 | 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy | |
| Free dance | TSS | 111.12 | 2024 European Championships |
| TES | 62.82 | 2024 European Championships | |
| PCS | 48.30 | 2024 European Championships |
ISU Personal best highlighted in bold.
| 2024–2025 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | RD | FD | Total |
| November 15–17, 2024 | 2024 Finlandia Trophy | 8 72.56 |
||
| November 8–10, 2024 | 2024 NHK Trophy | 7 67.34 |
6 107.94 |
6 175.28 |
| October 16–20, 2024 | 2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur | 4 71.24 |
3 109.24 |
4 180.48 |
| October 11–13, 2024 | 2024 CS Budapest Trophy | 5 70.25 |
4 108.25 |
4 178.50 |
| 2023–2024 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 18–24, 2024 | 2024 World Championships | 17 68.66 |
16 107.33 |
16 175.99 |
| January 8–14, 2024 | 2024 European Championships | 10 68.59 |
9 111.12 |
10 179.71 |
| December 10–14, 2023 | 2024 Finnish Championships | 2 75.80 |
2 110.47 |
2 186.27 |
| November 17–19, 2023 | 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo | 7 69.52 |
6 107.21 |
6 176.73 |
| October 20–22, 2023 | 2023 Mezzaluna Cup | 1 73.76 |
1 115.25 |
1 189.01 |
| October 4–8, 2023 | 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy | 6 67.93 |
4 106.80 |
6 174.73 |
| September 28–30, 2023 | 2023 CS Nepela Memorial | 7 65.62 |
6 105.91 |
6 171.53 |
| 2022–2023 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 23–26, 2023 | 2023 International Challenge Cup | 3 69.06 |
2 108.11 |
3 177.17 |
| January 31–February 5, 2023 | 2023 Bavarian Open | 2 72.52 |
3 105.37 |
2 177.89 |
| December 16–18, 2022 | 2023 Finnish Championships | 2 74.73 |
2 106.44 |
2 181.17 |
| November 25–27, 2022 | 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo | 8 69.13 |
6 104.04 |
7 173.17 |
| November 18–20, 2022 | 2022 NHK Trophy | 9 66.47 |
8 101.98 |
8 168.45 |
| October 18–23, 2022 | 2022 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur | 4 64.50 |
4 96.16 |
4 160.66 |
| October 5–9, 2022 | 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy | 6 68.81 |
6 101.36 |
6 170.17 |
| September 29–October 1, 2022 | 2022 CS Nepela Memorial | 4 62.34 |
3 102.98 |
4 165.32 |
| 2021–22 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 24–27, 2022 | 2022 International Challenge Cup | 2 65.31 |
2 104.08 |
2 169.39 |
| December 17–19, 2021 | 2022 Finnish Championships | 2 70.69 |
2 105.63 |
2 176.32 |
| November 18–21, 2021 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup | 6 71.56 |
5 105.21 |
5 176.77 |
| November 4–7, 2021 | 2021 NRW Trophy | 3 60.79 |
1 102.20 |
1 162.99 |
| October 20–24, 2021 | 2021 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur | 4 62.84 |
6 92.38 |
4 155.22 |
| October 7–10, 2021 | 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy | 13 61.18 |
12 97.33 |
12 158.51 |
| September 10–12, 2021 | 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy | 15 57.98 |
16 86.82 |
15 144.80 |
| 2019–20 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 7–9, 2020 | 2020 Egna Dance Trophy | 5 70.76 |
6 97.99 |
5 168.75 |
| January 20–26, 2020 | 2020 European Championships | 16 64.49 |
19 91.59 |
18 156.08 |
| December 2–8, 2019 | 2019 Finnish Championships | 1 70.15 |
1 102.75 |
1 172.90 |
| December 2–8, 2019 | 2019 Santa Claus Cup | 2 70.16 |
5 96.42 |
3 166.58 |
| November 5–10, 2019 | 2019 Volvo Open Cup | 3 67.48 |
3 96.86 |
3 164.37 |
| October 11–13, 2019 | 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy | 7 62.19 |
7 95.53 |
7 157.72 |
| September 19–21, 2019 | 2019 CS Nepela Memorial | 5 67.01 |
6 99.92 |
5 166.93 |
| September 13–15, 2019 | 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy | 11 57.94 |
10 90.54 |
11 148.48 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Yuzuru Hanyu". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Shoma Uno🎻". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Kaori Sakamoto". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Wakaba Higuchi". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Marin Honda". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ a b c 坂上, 武司. "国境を越える折原裕香 「五輪ドリームより、自分の可能性を信じて」". Asahi. Asahi. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Orihara, Shizuko. "Costume for Yuka Orihara/ Juho Pirinen". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ a b "フィギュアスケート・夏のローカル大会で見つけた東京のホープ達【後編】". Walker Plus. Walker Plus. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "2016 National Junior - Junior Ice Dance - Final Results". Japan Skating Federation. Japan Skating Federation. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "ルネ高卒業したての折原裕香さんが新宿代々木キャンパスに遊びに来てくれました(^^)". Instagram. Rune Group. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "練習拠点はカナダ、フィギュアスケーター折原裕香さん". Shinjuku Yoyogi Campus. Shinjuku Yoyogi Campus. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Catching Up with Finland's Orihara and Pirinen". Golden Skate. Golden Skate. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Yuka Orihara, 23, harkitsee luopuvansa Japanin kansalaisuudesta, jotta saisi Suomen passin – taustalla unelma olympialaisista". YLE. YLE. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "2014 JOCジュニアオリンピックカップ大会第83回全日本ジュニア選手権大会 - ジュニア女子 - 最終結果". Japan Skating Federation. Japan Skating Federation. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Yuka Kito". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Yuka Orihara / Kanata Mori". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Profile – Yuka Orihara & Lee Royer". ice-dance.com.
- ^ a b "Yuka Orihara / Lee Royer". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: Competition Results". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "2019/20 Finnish National Championships - Senior Dance". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "The ISU was informed of the cancellation of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Internationaux de France, that was scheduled to take place from November 13-15, 2020 in Grenoble (FRA)". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "Entries for ISU Figure Skating and Synchronized Skating Championships 2024". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 November 2024.
- ^ "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022.
- ^ "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 January 2020.
- ^ "|Japan Skating Federation Official Results & Data Site|". www.jsfresults.com. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
- ^ a b "Yuka Orihara". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "|Japan Skating Federation Official Results & Data Site|". www.jsfresults.com. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
External links
edit- Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen at the International Skating Union
- Yuka Orihara/Juho Pirinen at SkatingScores.com
- Yuka Orihara on Instagram