Yuna Shiraiwa

Yuna Shiraiwa (白岩 優奈) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 CS Asian Open silver medalist, the 2017 Asian Trophy silver medalist, and the 2018 Coupe du Printemps bronze medalist. At the junior level, she is a three-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist (two gold, one silver), and two-time Japanese Junior national silver medalist. She finished within the top five at three World Junior Championships (2016, 2017, 2019).

Personal life
Shiraiwa was born on November 26, 2001, in Kyoto, Japan.

Early years
Shiraiwa began skating in 2006, after being inspired by Shizuka Arakawa's 2006 Olympic victory. Mie Hamada became her coach when Shiraiwa was six years old.

She competed at the 2014–15 Japan Junior Championships but did not qualify for the free skate, having ranked 27th in the short program.

2015–2016 season
Shiraiwa debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) circuit during the 2015–16 season. At her first JGP assignment, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she placed fifth in the short program and first in the free skate, winning the gold medal by a margin of 8.06 points ahead of silver medalist Marin Honda. Ranked third in the short and first in the free, she outscored Russia's Alisa Fedichkina by 0.42 for gold at the JGP in Logroño, Spain. Shiraiwa's results qualified her for the JGP Final in Barcelona.

In November, Shiraiwa won the silver medal at the 2015-16 Japan Junior Championships behind Wakaba Higuchi. A month later, at the JGP Final, Shiraiwa finished 5th. Making her debut at the Japan Championships on the senior level, she placed 5th, and was named as a member of the Youth Olympic and the Junior World teams.

At the 2016 Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway, Shiraiwa finished fourth, before going on to place fourth at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

2016–17 season
Competing on the Junior Grand Prix, Shiraiwa finished fourth at the 2016 JGP Russia and won the silver at the 2016 JGP Germany.

She went on to compete at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships, winning the silver medal behind Kaori Sakamoto. At the senior nationals, Shiraiwa placed seventeenth in the short program but third in the free skate, ultimately moving up to sixth place overall.

Selected to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, Shiraiwa finished fifth.

2017–18 season
Making her senior international debut, Shiraiwa won the silver medal at the Asian Open Trophy. She then went on to compete at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy, where she finished seventh.

Debuting on the senior Grand Prix series, Shiraiwa finished eighth at the 2017 NHK Trophy and sixth at the 2017 Internationaux de France.

At the 2017–18 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa placed ninth. She then closed her season with a bronze medal at the 2018 Coupe du Printemps.

2018–19 season
Shiraiwa began her season by winning silver at the 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy and placing fifth at the 2018 CS U.S. Classic.

On the 2018–19 Grand Prix series, Shiraiwa finished fourth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and fifth at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup.

At the 2018–19 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa finished ninth, before going on to win the 2019 Bavarian Open on the junior level.

Selected to compete at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Shiraiwa finished fifth.

2019–20 season
Competing on the 2019–20 Grand Prix series, Shiraiwa placed ninth at the 2019 Internationaux de France and tenth at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup.

She withdrew from the 2019–20 Japan Championships due to an injury in her right tibia.

2020–21 season
Shiraiwa finished ninth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.

Following the season, Shiraiwa left longtime coach Mie Hamada to train under Takeshi Honda.

2021–22 season
Competing at the 2021–22 Japan Championships, Shiraiwa finished twenty-third.

2022–23 season
Shiraiwa announced her intention to sit out the 2022–23 figure skating season in November to "physically and mentally recharge."

Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results
ISU Personal best highlighted in bold.