Ikura Kushida

Ikura Kushida (櫛田 育良) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2022 JGP Czech Republic bronze medalist and the 2023–24 Japan Junior silver medalist.

Personal life
Kushida was born on 29 October, 2007 in Aichi, Japan. Apart from figure skating, she also enjoys creative dancing.

She is currently a student at Chukyo University Senior High School.

Career
Kushida began skating in 2012 at the age of four. She initially trained at the Howa Sports Land Skating Club in Aichi, where she was coached by Hiroshi Nagakubo, Yoriko Naruse, Miho Kawaume, and Yuko Hongo. Kushida ultimately relocated to Uji, Kyoto in 2020 however to train at the Kinoshita Academy under coaches Mie Hamada, Satsuki Muramoto, and Hiroaki Sato.

At the 2020 Japanese National Novice Championships, Kushida finished fourth in the novice A category. The following season, she would finish twelfth at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships.

Throughout 2021, Kushida tried pairs skating with fellow Kinoshita Academy skater, Sumitada Moriguchi, but the pair split after less than a year together with Kushida electing to focus on singles skating. She would go on to compete at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships, finishing eighth.

2022–23 season
Kushida made her international debut on the Junior Grand Prix at the 2022 JGP Czech Republic, where she won the bronze medal. She went on to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fourth, and was selected to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Senior Championships due to this top eight finish. She would place eighth at those championships.

Kushida finished her season by winning a silver medal at the 2023 International Challenge Cup on the junior level.

2023–24 season
Competing on the Junior Grand Prix, Kushida started the season by competing at the 2023 JGP Japan and the 2023 JGP Armenia, finishing fourth at both events.

Kushida went on to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships, unexpectedly winning the short program ahead of overwhelming favourite, Mao Shimada. She would place third in the free skate and won the silver medal overall behind Shimada. With this result, Kushida was selected to represent Japan at the 2024 World Junior Championships. She was also selected to compete at the 2023–24 Japan Senior Championships due to her top eight finish at the junior championships. At those championships, Kushida finished twenty-fifth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition. Following the event, Kushida said that while disappointed, she hoped to be able to use this experience to motivate her at future events.

At the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Kushida finished third in the short program, winning a bronze small medal for the segment. She said that she had felt "more nervous than usual" beforehand, given that it was her ISU championship debut. Kushida struggled in the free skate, falling twice, coming eleventh there and dropping to eighth overall.