Rena Uezono

Personal information
Native name	上薗 恋奈
Born	(2010-06-07)June 7, 2010 (age 15) Aichi, Japan
Home town	Nagoya
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Coach	Sonoko Nakano Mitsuko Graham Sei Kawahara Masahiro Kawagoe
Skating club	Kobe FSC
Began skating	2017
Medal record
World Junior Championships 2024 Taipei Singles Junior Grand Prix Final 2023–24 Beijing Singles

Rena Uezono (上薗 恋奈,Uezono Rena; born June 7, 2010) is a Japanesefigure skater. She is the2024 World Junior bronze medalist, the2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the2023 JGP Poland champion, and the2023 JGP Turkey silver medalist.

At the domestic level, Uezono is the2023–24 Japan Junior bronze medalist and the2022–23 Japan Novice A champion.

Uezono was born on 7 June 2010 inAichi,Japan. She looks up to fellow Japanese skater and two-time Olympic championYuzuru Hanyu.^[1]

Her hobbies include playing the piano, cooking, and fashion.^[2]

Uezono's figure skating idols areMao Asada,Yuna Kim, andYuzuru Hanyu.^[3]

Uezono began skating in 2017 at the age of seven after being inspired by watchingMao Asada perform at an ice show in her home region ofAichi.^[3][4]

She won the silver medal at the 2020 Japanese National Novice Championships in the novice B category.^[5]

Uezono placed fifth at the 2021 Japanese National Novice A Championships and was invited to compete at the2021–22 Japan Junior National Championships. She finished in eighteenth place after two falls in the free skate.^[6] Following the season, Uezono joinedMihoko Higuchi's newly founded skating club, the LYS Skate Club. In turn, Higuchi began coaching her as well.<ref=GS24/>

Uezono won the 2022 Japan National Novice A Championships, 15.77 points above Mayuko Oka, and was again invited to compete at the2022–23 Japan Junior Championships.^[7] After a clean short program, Uezono placed in eleventh. However, two falls in the free skate dropped her to the thirteenth place.

She was invited to skate in the gala at the2023 World Team Trophy.^[8]

As the reigning national novice champion, Uezono was selected to make her international competitive debut on theJunior Grand Prix at the2023 JGP Turkey. Fourth in the short program, she moved up to second overall after the free skate, taking the silver medal.^[9] Weeks later she won gold at the2023 JGP Poland, in the processing qualifying to theJunior Grand Prix Final.^[10]

Based on her prior results, Uezono was considered a podium contender at the2023–24 Japan Junior Championships.^[11] She won the bronze medal, in the process qualifying to the senior national championships.^[12] Next appearing at the Junior Grand Prix Final inBeijing, Uezono finished third in both segments and claimed the bronze medal there as well. She set new personal bests in both segments and overall.^[13][14] She then competed at the senior national championships at month's end, finishing fourth, less than two points back of bronze medalistMao Shimada. Uezono described skating in the final group of the free skate as "very nerve-wracking, but I was able to skate with the best skaters and that was a good experience."^[15]

Uezono finished the season at the2024 World Junior Championships inTaipei. In the short program, she fell on her jump combination and finished in eighth place. She rallied in the free skate, coming third in that segment with a new personal best, and rising to third place overall.^[16]

Uezono began her season on theJunior Grand Prix by competing at2024 JGP Czech Republic, entering as the pre-event favourite.^[17] She placed second in the short program but fourth free skate after falling twice during her free program. She would drop to a disappointing fourth place overall.^[18] She went on to place fourth again at2024 JGP Slovenia.^[19]

In late November, Uezono competed at the2024–25 Japan Junior Championships, where she finished fifth.^[20] This result ensured her qualification to compete at the senior championships, where she placed twenty-sixth, failing to advance to the free skate segment of the competition.^[21][20]

In July, it was announced that Uezono had relocated toKobe and joined the Kobe Figure Skating Club, where she was now being coached by Sonoko Nakano.^[22][23]

• Rena UEZONO at theInternational Skating Union
• UEZONO Rena at theJapan Skating Federation
• Rena Uezono at SkatingScores.com
• Rena Uezono onInstagram

• Living people
• 2010 births
• Figure skaters from Aichi Prefecture
• Japanese female single skaters
• People from Kitanagoya
• 21st-century Japanese sportswomen
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text