(born March 28, 1985) is a Japanese figure skating choreographer and retired competitive figure skater. She is the 2012 World Championships bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist (2011 silver, 2009 & 2012 bronze), a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2010, 2013), the 2007 Winter Universiade champion, and the 2013 Japanese national champion. She placed eighth at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Personal life Suzuki was born on March 28, 1985, in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. She became engaged to a former classmate in June 2016 and married him on February 1, 2017. They divorced in 2018.
Career
Suzuki trained in Nagoya, Japan. She began skating at age 6. At the same time, she worked for Toho Real Estate, which has its own skating rink.
Early career Suzuki debuted on the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in 1999 with one assignment in Sweden, where she took 7th place. In the 2000–2001 season, she received two assignments, where she placed 6th and 8th.
The next season, she won the bronze medal at the 2001–02 Junior Grand Prix Final after winning the Junior Grand Prix in Japan and taking bronze at the Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic. In the 2002–2003 season, she won her assignment in the United States, but she placed 5th at her second assignment in China and did not advance to the final.
Later in 2003, after a successful junior career, she was hampered by her struggles with anorexia nervosa, which began at age 18 when she left home for university and to train with coach Hiroshi Nagakubo. As a teenager, she began to restrict what kinds of food she ate and often went hungry due to the pressure to maintain a low weight and act responsible, but she was in good health overall.
On going to university, where she was in control of her own diet, she began to lose dangerous amounts of weight. Suzuki said she kept the disorder to herself and that "People don’t get it. They assume eating is easy. It’s not like I didn’t want to eat." Her weight fell to 32 kg. Nagakubo and the head of the skating division, out of concern for her health, eventually asked her to temporarily stop competing and to return home and see a doctor. Although she initially resisted the diagnosis of an eating disorder, she began recovering with professional help and support from her mother.
Due to her recovery, she missed the entire 2003–2004 season, during which she did not train for months. She returned to university in October 2003 and was able to compete at an intercollegiate competition in January, though still far from her previous level.
2004–2005 to 2008–2009 Suzuki returned to competitive skating in the 2004–2005 season after being inspired by Shizuka Arakawa's victory at the 2004 World Championships.
She had a breakthrough in 2007–2008, winning several events, including the 2007 Winter Universiade, and achieving her highest finish at Japanese nationals since 2002. She consequently received her first senior Grand Prix assignment in 2008–2009, and won the silver medal at the 2008 NHK Trophy. That same season, she also won the 2008 Finlandia Trophy and finished 8th at the 2009 Four Continents Championships.
2009–2010 season
Suzuki appeared at two Grand Prix events, winning the 2009 Cup of China and finishing 5th at the 2009 Skate Canada International. She qualified to the 2009–10 Grand Prix Final, where she won the bronze medal. She was awarded a place on the Japanese Olympic team after she placed second at the 2009–10 Japan Championships. She was also assigned to compete at the 2010 Four Continents Championships, where she won the silver medal. At the Olympics, she finished 8th, and she was later 11th at the 2010 World Championships – her first senior World Championships.
2010–2011 season Suzuki opened her season with gold at the 2010 Finlandia Trophy. She received silver at both of her Grand Prix events, the 2010 Cup of Russia and the 2010 Cup of China. She qualified for her second consecutive Grand Prix Final, this time finishing fourth. A fourth-place finish at the national championships left her off the World Championships team, but she was selected to go to the 2011 Four Continents Championships, where she finished 7th.
2011–2012 season
Competing again on the Grand Prix series, Suzuki won the silver medal at the 2011 Skate Canada International and the gold medal at the 2011 NHK Trophy. Her placements qualified her for the 2011 Grand Prix Final where she won the silver medal. She won the silver behind Mao Asada at the 2011–12 Japan Championships. At the 2012 World Championships, Suzuki won the bronze medal, becoming the oldest ladies' single skater to medal at the event since Maria Butyrskaya. At the 2012 ISU World Team Trophy, she won the ladies' event, defeating World champion Carolina Kostner. Team Japan also won the event overall.
2012–2013 season Suzuki received the same Grand Prix assignments as the previous season. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Skate Canada International and the 2012 NHK Trophy, qualifying her for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final. At the final, she placed third in the short program. She fell twice in the free skating, finishing third overall. In December 2012, Suzuki said that the 2013–14 season would be her last. She finished fourth at the 2012–13 Japan Championships behind Satoko Miyahara.
Suzuki won the silver medal at the 2013 Four Continents Championships, as part of a Japanese sweep of the ladies' event with teammates Mao Asada and Kanako Murakami taking the gold and bronze medal respectively. She placed twelfth at the 2013 World Championships. At the 2013 World Team Trophy, Suzuki placed first; Team Japan placed third overall. Her free skating score of 133.02 and her combined total score of 199.58 are her personal best scores.
2013–2014 season
Suzuki began her season at the 2013 Finlandia Trophy, where she won the silver medal behind Yulia Lipnitskaya. She won another silver at the 2013 Skate Canada International, again behind Lipnitskaya. At the 2013 NHK Trophy, she earned the bronze medal after placing second in the short and fourth in the free skating.
Suzuki won gold at the 2013–14 Japan Championships, ahead of Kanako Murakami and Mao Asada. She placed second in the short program behind Asada, but rebounded to first place after winning the free skating. She skated two clean programs and earned the highest free skating and total score to date in the ladies' event at the Japan Figure Skating Championships.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Suzuki competed in the free skating portion of the figure skating team event, placing fourth in that segment; Japan finished fifth overall. She went on to place eighth in the ladies' singles competition. At the 2014 World Championships, she placed fourth in the short program with a personal best score, eighth in the free skating, and sixth overall. Following the World Championships, Suzuki announced her retirement from competitive skating.
Post-competitive career Following her retirement in 2014, Suzuki began working as a choreographer and teaching with her longtime coach, Hiroshi Nagakubo, at the Howa Sports Land Skating Club in the Aichi Prefecture. She credited figure skating choreographers Shae-Lynn Bourne and Pasquale Camerlengo for inspiring her to start working as a choreographer. Suzuki has been a mainstay in Shizuka Arakawa's Friends on Ice show since its second edition in 2007 and was a main cast member of the annual touring ice show Fantasy on Ice, having participated in all editions from 2010 to 2019. In 2022 she did the commentary for the live broadcast at the tour stop in Nagoya amongst others. In 2017, 2019 and 2021 she appeared in the new, innovative cross-genre ice show Hyoen, starring her peer Daisuke Takahashi. In 2024 she provided choreography for the Hyoen production "The Miracle of the Cross Star" and for the new ice show BISF25. She also provided motion capture and choreography for the anime adaptation of Medalist.
Suzuki has choreographed for the following skaters:
Yuna Aoki Mone Chiba Maria Egawa Rika Hongo Moa Iwano Yuma Kagiyama Takeru Amine Kataise Lim Eun-soo Yura Matsuda Miyu Nakashio Mai Mihara Haruna Murakami Yuka Nagai Ami Nakai Rin Nitaya Kaori Sakamoto Sae Shimizu Shin Ji-a Shun Sato Yuna Shiraiwa Rion Sumiyoshi Yo Takagi Tatsuya Tsuboi Kaoruko Wada Sota Yamamoto Mako Yamashita Yuhana Yokoi Suzuki has also spoken extensively about her experience with her eating disorder in public lectures and to the media.
Programs
Post-2014 Season Exhibition 2017–2018 O
Pre-2014 Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2013–2014 Hymne à l'amour The Phantom of the Opera Ladies in Lavender
Love Dance 2012–2013 Battle Without Honor or Humanity O Les parapluies de Cherbourg 2011–2012 Hungarian Rhapsody Die Fledermaus overture Ladies in Lavender
You Haven't Seen the Last of Me Show Me How You Burlesque 2010–2011 Tango Jalousie Fiddler on the Roof (musical) Bellezza
Ice Queen Prophecy
Tennessee Waltz 2009–2010 Andalucia Firedance West Side Story Caribe 2008–2009 La campanella Dark Eyes Libertango 2007–2008 Firedance Titanic Titanic
Nocturne 2006–2007 Moonlight Sonata It's A Beautiful Day
Nocturne 2005–2006 Bolero Fantasy 2004–2005 Salome 2003–2004 The Red Violin 2002–2003 Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso 2001–2002 Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 Romeo and Juliet 2000–2001 Canciones Populares Españolas Concierto de Aranjuez
Competitive highlights GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International Event98–9999–0000–0101–0202–0303–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 Olympics 8th 8th Worlds 11th 3rd 12th 6th Four Continents 8th 8th 2nd 7th 2nd Final 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd Cup of China 1st 2nd Cup of Russia 2nd NHK Trophy 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Skate Canada 5th 2nd 2nd 2nd Finlandia Trophy 1st 1st 2nd Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd Challenge Cup 1st Golden Spin 7th 1st Triglav Trophy 1st Universiade 8th 1st New Zealand WG 1st International: Junior Junior Worlds7th Final3rd China5th Czech Republic 3rd Japan 1st Norway8th Sweden7th Ukraine6th United States 1st Triglav Trophy 2nd NationalJapan Champ.4th4th9th 12th 12th 10th 5th 4th 2nd 4th 2nd 4th 1st Japan Junior 3rd5th 2nd5th5th Team eventsOlympics 5th TWorld TeamTrophy 1st T1st P 3rd T1st P Japan Open 3rd T3rd P 1st T3rd P
Detailed results
Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.
– This is a team event; medals are awarded for the team results only. – team result – personal/individual result