Japan's Sota Yamamoto eyes World podium

[gsk8]

Japan's Sota Yamamoto eyes World podium

Sota Yamamoto At the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Sota Yamamoto made the highly-competitive Japanese men’s team for the World Championships, which takes place next week in his home country. […]

www.goldenskate.com

"There will be very good athletes from all over the world and they will all want to do their best, too. So I don't want to think only about the score, but to implement what I have acquired in training."

 

[el henry]

Interesting interview pointing out all the challenges that Sota has overcome and why he is on the Worlds’ team.

And certainly impressed with how Sota keeps talking about his love of skating.

 

[4everchan]

Good luck Sota !

 

[surimi]

All fingers and toes crossed for Sota! I have no idea how high up he can make it in the WC result list, but he certainly has talent enough for the top 6. So may his season end to his satisfaction. I'm already glad to see him recognized and counted on.

A few other observations:

- Articles often mention 'an ankle fracture'. Sota is special in that he has actually overcome 3 repeated fractures, and now his right ankle is held together by metal bolts. I've heard one's jump landing force is 7 times one's real weight: considering that, it's unreal that he is able to skate multi-quad layouts after such an injury. It's even more mind-blowing that he trains 4F and 4Lz. I'm not a big fan of those though, as this last summer, his right foot suffered an injury due to jumping these, though it apparently healed quickly enough to grant him this breakout season.

- Sota has been through several coaching changes, but the majority of them were not by choice. Since 2021, he’s been a happy skater in Machiko Yamada’s team, working with both her and Yuko Hongo (Rika Hongo’s mom).
Sota has repeatedly mentioned he would like to become a coach one day. I’m hoping he can!

- Based on multiple interviews, there was a period in 2020-21 when Sota was depressed and struggling with self-doubt, wondering if he could still grow as a skater. But he's shown admirable resilience and emerged from it stronger.

- Sota‘s ultimate goal is being selected for the Olympics. Now he's aiming for Torino 2026. Prior to his injury, he was considered a candidate for 2018 OG. That tiniest chance of making it onto the Olympic team was what was driving him when he re-appeared at regionals 2017 with single jumps after his long absence. By the end of that year, he had some of his triples back, and made it into the top 10 at Nationals with two clean programs. He got a lot of attention that season for his brave comeback.

- fun tidbits about Sota: per his ISU bio, he enjoys sauna, listening to music, and aromatherapy. He also enjoys going to onsen, eating, and being with his friends. One of his biggest friends is Kazuki Tomono, and this WC is going to be the 6th event they face each other in competition this season.

 

[xabia]

Of course, like everyone, I wish him all the best. However I do have one bugbear about his performance, and that’s the way he drops his arms and clenches his fists when preparing for his jumps. Any flow he has generated in the choreography up to that point is immediately broken by this unattractive jump pass telegraph.

 

[yelyoh]

Well as a Sota fan I would love to see him on the podium at Worlds (with cleavage).