Kana Muramoto
Muramoto at the2016 Skate America
Born	(1993-03-03)March 3, 1993 (age 32) Akashi, Hyōgo
Hometown	Kobe
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Discipline	Ice dance (2014–2023) Women's singles (until 2013)
Partner	Daisuke Takahashi (2020-present) Chris Reed (2015-2018) Hiroichi Noguchi (2014-2015)
Coach	Marina Zueva,Ilia Tkachenko,Johnny Johns Mie Hamada
Skating club	Kansai Univ. Kaisers FSC
HighestWS	13th (ice dance,2023) 79th (singles,2012)
Event Four Continents Championships 0 1 1 Japan Championships 4 2 1 World Team Trophy 1 0 1 Medal list Four Continents Championships 2022 Tallinn Ice dance 2018 Taipei Ice dance Japan Championships 2015–16 Sapporo Ice dance 2016–17 Osaka Ice dance 2017–18 Tokyo Ice dance 2022–23 Osaka Ice dance 2020–21 Nagano Ice dance 2021–22 Saitama Ice dance 2014–15 Nagano Ice dance World Team Trophy 2017 Tokyo Team 2023 Tokyo Team

Kana Muramoto (村元 哉中,Muramoto Kana, born March 3, 1993) is a retired Japanesefigure skater (women's singles andice dance). With her skating partner,Daisuke Takahashi, she is the2022 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2022–23Japanese national champion and the 2022Denis Ten Memorial Challenge champion.

With her former skating partner,Chris Reed, she is the2018 Four Continents bronze medalist, the2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a three-time Japanese national champion (2016–2018). They competed in the final segment at fiveISU Championships and the2018 Winter Olympics.

Kana Muramoto was born on March 3, 1993, inAkashi, Hyōgo, Japan.^[1] She is the younger sister of former figure skaterSatsuki Muramoto.^[2] In 2011, she graduated fromCanadian Academy, an international school in Kobe, Japan.^[3]

Muramoto began learning to skate in 1998.^[4] Through the 2013–2014 season, she competed inladies' singles, coached byMie Hamada andYamato Tamura.^[5] She won the silver medal at the2011 Triglav Trophy and bronze at the2011 Crystal Skate of Romania.

In the 2014–2015 season, Muramoto began appearing inice dancing with Hiroichi Noguchi.^[6] The two placed fourth at the 2014Tallinn Trophy and took the bronze medal at theJapan Championships.

On June 17, 2015, Muramoto andChris Reed announced that they would compete together, coached byMarina Zueva, Oleg Epstein, andMassimo Scali inCanton, Michigan.^[7]

Making their international debut, Muramoto/Reed placed 7th at the2015 NHK Trophy in November. The following month, they won theJapanese national title. In January 2016, the duo took silver at theToruń Cup in Poland. They placed 7th at the2016 Four Continents Championships in February inTaipei, Taiwan. In March, they placed 16th in the short dance, 14th in the free dance, and 15th overall at the2016 World Championships inBoston, Massachusetts.

Muramoto/Reed won silver at the2016 CS U.S. Classic in September and placed 8th at the2016 Skate America in October. They withdrew from their November Grand Prix event, the2016 NHK Trophy. After winning their secondnational title, the duo took bronze at the 2017Toruń Cup.

In February, Muramoto/Reed placed 9th at the2017 Four Continents Championships inGangneung, South Korea, and won silver at the2017 Asian Winter Games inSapporo, Japan. In March, they placed 23rd in the short dance at the2017 World Championships inHelsinki, Finland. As a result, they did not advance to the final segment and missed qualifying for the Olympics.

Muramoto/Reed began their season in September, taking bronze at the2017 CS U.S. Classic. At the end of the month, they competed at the2017 Nebelhorn Trophy, the finalqualifying opportunity for the Olympics. The two won the silver medal and secured one Olympic spot in the ice dance discipline for Japan. In November, they appeared at a pair of Grand Prix events, finishing 9th at the2017 NHK Trophy and 7th at the2017 Skate America.^[8] They then won theirthird national title, outscoring the silver medalists by nearly 17 points.

In January, Muramoto/Reed won the bronze medal at the2018 Four Continents Championships inTaipei, Taiwan. In February, they competed at the2018 Winter Olympics inPyeongChang, South Korea.^[9] They placed 15th in the short dance, 13th in the free dance, and 15th overall. The following month, they finished 11th at the2018 World Championships inMilan, Italy.

Muramoto/Reed were assigned to the2018 NHK Trophy and2018 Rostelecom Cup. However, on August 9, 2018, Japanese news media reported that they had ended their partnership and that Muramoto planned to search for a new partner.^[10]

In September 2019, Muramoto formed a new partnership with former Japanese singles skaterDaisuke Takahashi, with plans to debut in the fall of 2020.^[11] The decision of Takahashi, a former Olympic bronze medalist and World champion in men's singles, to switch to ice dance attracted considerable media attention both in Japan and abroad. The two began training inFlorida underMarina Zoueva, the coach of Olympic championsVirtue/Moir andDavis/White.^[12]

Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, theGrand Prix was assigned based primarily on geographic location. Muramoto/Takahashi nevertheless traveled from Florida to Japan to make their debut at the2020 NHK Trophy, in a field consisting of only three Japanese dance teams. They were second in the rhythm dance, narrowly ahead of reigning national silver medalistsFukase/Zhang but some six points behind the reigning national champions,Komatsubara/Koleto.^[13] In the free dance, Takahashi fell out of his second set of twizzles, which combined with missed levels of some lift elements to drop them to third place. Winning the bronze medal, he called his mistakes unusual, even in practice sessions, but a part of actually competing. Muramoto said she felt they could do better at their next competition.^[14]

Making theirJapan Championships debut, Muramoto/Takahashi placed second in the rhythm dance, less than four points behind Komatsubara/Koleto.^[15] They were third in the free dance after Takahashi fell out of a lift and made several other errors, but won the silver medal overall due to Fukase/Cho also making errors.^[16] They were named as first alternates to the World team.^[17] In February, they were forced to withdraw as alternates due to a knee injury to Muramoto and were replaced by bronze medalists Fukase/Cho.^[18]

Muramoto/Takahashi were again assigned to begin the season at the2021 NHK Trophy, their lone assignment on theGrand Prix for the year. Sixth in both segments, they were sixth overall, defeating domestic rivalsKomatsubara/Koleto by 7.30 points. Both expressed satisfaction with the results, but Takahashi said, "there is still a large gap we want to close to the top teams."^[19] They went on to win a silver medal at the2021 CS Warsaw Cup.^[20]

The2021–22 Japan Championships, the final national qualification event for the2022 Winter Olympics, pitted Muramoto/Takahashi against Komatsubara/Koleto for the second time that season. Muramoto and Takahashi both fell in the rhythm dance, as a result placing second in that segment, five points back of their rivals. They won the free dance but took the silver medal overall for the second consecutive year and were subsequently named as alternates for theJapanese Olympic team. They were instead assigned to make theirWorld Championship debut later in the season and were named to compete at theFour Continents Championships as well.^[21]

Muramoto/Takahashi won the silver medal at Four Continents, placing second in both segments. Muramoto, reflecting on her prior medal at the event, said, "I share precious memories with Chris regarding ice dancing, and we were also aiming for a victory. But I am also very happy that I was able to reach the podium with Dai and compete with the world."^[22]

The team concluded the season at the2022 World Championships, held inMontpellier with Russian dance teams absent due to theInternational Skating Union banning all Russian athletes due to their country'sinvasion of Ukraine. Qualifying to the free dance, Muramoto/Takahashi finished sixteenth.^[23]

At the end of May, Muramoto/Takahashi confirmed that they would continue through the 2022–2023 season.^[24]

After a sixth-place finish at the2022 Skate America, they went on to compete at the2022 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, where they earned their first gold medal as a team.^[25] They then finished sixth at the2022 NHK Trophy, their second Grand Prix.^[26]

At the2022–23 Japan Championships, Muramoto/Takahashi became national champions for the first time and were subsequently named to compete at the2023 World Championships and at the2023 Four Continents Championships.^[27]

The team encountered difficulties at the Four Continents Championships, beginning in the rhythm dance, where Muramoto fell in the midst of their midline step element.^[28] Takahashi fell twice in the second half of their free dance. They finished ninth at the event, behind domestic rivalsKomatsubara/Koleto.^[29] At the2023 World Championships, which were held on home ice inSaitama, Muramoto/Takahashi notably finished eleventh, which, tied with Muramoto/Reed in 2018, meant the highest placement of a Japanese ice dance team at a World Championships. They also achieved a personal best in the free dance. Muramoto opined afterward that "this season has been really tough, but I am very happy."^[30]

Muramoto/Takahashi were Team Japan's dance entry at the2023 World Team Trophy, coming fourth in the rhythm dance.^[31] They were fifth in the free dance, setting a new personal best in the segment and in total score. Team Japan won the bronze medal.^[32] Muramoto said that they were undecided about continuing for another year and would discuss it while touring.^[33] They announced their joint decision to retire in May 2023.^[34] Muramoto said she did not want to look for a new partner to compete with because she could not imagine a better partner than Takahashi and would therefore prefer to pursue a professional show career with him.^[35]

Since retiring from competitive figure skating, Muramoto has performed solo and withTakahashi in ice shows such asHyoen,Prince Ice World,Shizuka Arakawa'sFriends on Ice andDaisuke Takahashi'sKassouya. She co-choreographed a program withTakahashi (Symmetry),^[36] which they performed at thePrince Ice World - Broadway Rocks! tour stops inYokohama andKagoshima. ForFriends on Ice 2024, Muramoto created her own solo show programFortitude. In addition she choreographed competitive and show programs for several other figure skaters,^[37] including the following clients:

• Shizuka Arakawa^[38]
• Mao Asada^[38]
• Marin Honda^[39]
• Yuto Kishina
• Riria Kono^[40]
• Mai Mihara^[41]
• Shunsuke Nakamura^[42]
• Kosho Oshima
• Kaori Sakamoto^[43][41]
• Koshiro Shimada^[44]
• Mao Shimada^[45]
• Sena Takahashi^[46]
• Kazuki Tomono^[47]
• Thai national figure skating team^[48]

In October 2024 Muramoto joined forces with her ice dance partnerDaisuke Takahashi, Olympic championShizuka Arakawa,Takahito Mura,Kazuki Tomono,Keiji Tanaka,Yuna Aoki,Kosho Oshima,Yuto Kishina andRena Uezono to launch the members-only official fan communityF-Ske on the platformFANICON.^[49]

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

• Kana Muramoto at theInternational Skating Union
• Kana Muramoto / Hiroichi Noguchi at theInternational Skating Union
• Kana Muramoto / Chris Reed at theInternational Skating Union
• Kana Muramoto / Daisuke Takahashi at theInternational Skating Union

• Japanese female ice dancers
• Japanese female single skaters
• Figure skaters at the 2017 Asian Winter Games
• Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games
• Asian Games silver medalists for Japan
• 1993 births
• Living people
• Kansai University alumni
• Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for Japan
• Asian Games medalists in figure skating
• Sportspeople from Akashi, Hyōgo
• Figure skaters from Hyōgo Prefecture
• Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
• 21st-century Japanese sportswomen

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