Nozomu Yoshioka

Nozomu Yoshioka (吉岡 希) is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2023 World Junior bronze medalist, 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2022 JGP Czech Republic champion, and the 2022 Japanese junior national champion.

Personal life
Yoshioka was born on 15 December 2003 in Osaka, Japan.

As a child, Yoshioka also practiced soccer and martial arts before ultimately deciding to focus on figure skating.

He is currently a student at Hosei University, where he also trains.

Yoshioka's figure skating idol is the late Denis Ten.

Early career
Yoshioka began figure skating in 2010 after being encouraged by his mother to give it a try.

Throughout his childhood, Yoshioka trained at the Aquapia Skating Rink in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture until it closed down. As a result, he relocated to Takatsuki to train at the Kansai University Takatsuki Ice Arena.

He made his junior-level debut at the 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships, where he finished twentieth and then went on to finish twenty-first at the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships the following year.

2019–20 season
Feeling that he needed a training environment that had more "discipline," Yoshioka decided to move to Hyōgo to train at the Hyogo Nishinomiya FSC under Utako Nagamitsu.

After finishing fifth at the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, Yoshioka was selected to compete at the 2019–20 Japan Senior Championships where he finished in nineteenth place.

He then went on to compete at the 2020 Challenge Cup as a junior and won the event.

2020–21 season
Yoshioka competed at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships, finishing eleventh.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of modifications were made to the Grand Prix structure, where competitors consisted only of skaters from the home country, skaters already training in the host nation, and skaters assigned to that event for geographic reasons. As a result, Yoshioka was invited to compete at the 2020 NHK Trophy where he finished tenth.

2021–22 season
Yoshioka competed at the 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medal and was thus invited to compete at the 2021–22 Japan Senior Championships, where he finished twentieth.

2022–23 season
Making his debut on the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix series, Yoshioka won the gold medal at the 2022 JGP Czech Republic and placed fifth at the 2022 JGP Poland I. These results secured a spot for Yoshioka at the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy.

Yoshioka then went on to compete at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, where he won the gold medal.

At the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final, Yoshioka placed fifth in the short program after losing points on a spin and having two jump errors in the program. However, Yoshioka managed to skate a more solid free skate, placing second in that segment of the competition and winning the bronze medal overall. Following the event, Yoshioka said, "I'm happy that I was able to stand on the stage (of the final). I was able to complete the free skate with the minimum number of mistakes."

At the 2022–23 Japan Championships, Yoshioka finished tenth.

Yoshioka was selected to compete at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta. He placed seventh in the short program, scoring a new personal best score and managed to place second in the free skate, winning the bronze medal overall.

Additionally, he was invited to skate in the gala at the 2023 World Championships in Saitama.

Yoshioka closed his season with a gold medal at the 2023 Triglav Trophy.

2023–24 season
Yoshioka began the season by finishing fifth at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy. Appearing on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate America, he set a new personal best in the short program (87.44) to come fourth in the segment. He dropped to sixth after the free skate. He said he was "disappointed" with the second half of the free skate, but said it was a "huge bonus" to be invited to the event.

Competitive highlights

 * GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
 * CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series