 Nagaoka and Moriguchi at the2025 World Championships | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | 長岡 柚奈 | ||||||||
| Born | (2005-07-13)July 13, 2005 (age 20) | ||||||||
| Home town | Kyoto, Japan | ||||||||
| Height | 1.56 m (5 ft 1 in) | ||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||
| Country |  Japan | ||||||||
| Discipline | Pair skating (since 2023) Women's singles (2016–23) | ||||||||
| Partner | Sumitada Moriguchi (since 2023) | ||||||||
| Coach | Dmitri Savin Fedor Klimov Sofia Evdokimova Mie Hamada Cathy Reed Satsuki Muramoto Hiroaki Sato | ||||||||
| Skating club | Kinoshita Academy | ||||||||
| Began skating | 2012 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Yuna Nagaoka (長岡 柚奈,Nagaoka Yuna; born July 13, 2005) is a Japanesepair skater. With partnerSumitada Moriguchi, she is the2025 Asian Winter Games bronze medalist, the2023–24 Japan national champion and the2024–25 Japan national silver medalist.[1]
Nagaoka was born on July 13, 2005 inHokkaido, Japan.[2]
In 2024, she graduated fromFuji Women's Junior and Senior High School.[3]
Nagaoka began figure skating in 2012.[2] Originally a singles skater, she trained at the ROYCE'F･S･C inSapporo, Hokkaido, coached by Mami Yamada, the childhood coach ofYuzuru Hanyu. Nagaoka got to meet Hanyu when he visited her training rink to personally thank Yamada and have a Q&A session with Yamada's students following his second Olympic gold medal win in 2018.[4][5]
In 2019, a member of theJapan Skating Federation approached a fourteen-year old Nagaoka, asking if she would be interested in skating in the pairs discipline due to her small stature. Following the encounter, Nagaoka, who did not know much about pair skating at the time, decided to attend the 2019 Japan Eastern Sectional Championships to watch then newly formed teamRiku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara compete. The experience made Nagaoka want try competing in the pairs discipline; however, at the time it was difficult to find a Japanese male skater that was interested in teaming up with her. Additionally, theCOVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 caused numerous Japanese skating rinks to close down, making pair skating tryout opportunities even more difficult to come by.[6][7] That same year, remaining in Sapporo, Nagaoka moved her training toFuji Women's University, where Naomi Takagi became her new coach.[8][9]
Nagaoka would compete at the2022–23 Japan Junior Championships in the women's singles event, where she finished twenty-third.[10]
In April 2023, theJapan Skating Federation organized a training camp, which Nagaoka decided to attend. During the camp, she met the pair skating coach ofMiura/Kihara,Bruno Marcotte, who immediately noticed her potential as a pair skater. Marcotte ended up introducing Nagaoka to his other student,Sumitada Moriguchi, whose previous pair partnership had recently dissolved. Following a successful tryout, the pair decided to team up with their long-term goal being to compete at the2026 Winter Olympics. Nagaoka left her hometown of Hokkaido and relocated toUji, Kyoto, the city where Moriguchi primarily trained at. They were officially announced as a pair team in May 2022. It was also announced that Nagaoka/Moriguchi would primarily train at the Kinoshita Academy, where they would work with coachesMie Hamada,Cathy Reed,Satsuki Muramoto, andHiroaki Sato, while also making frequent trips toOakville, Ontario, Canada to work with pair skating coaches Bruno Marcotte andBrian Shales, at the Oakville Skating Club.[6][11][12][13][2]
Nagaoka/Moriguchi debuted as a pair at the Japan Eastern Sectionals, which they won. Elected as a host pick, Nagaoka/Moriguchi made theirGrand Prix debut at the2023 NHK Trophy. They scored 45.36 for their short program, 90.03 for their free, and 135.39 overall, placing eighth. They went on to win gold at the2023–24 Japanese National Championships.[14]
They were named to the2024 World team on the condition that they could obtain their technical minimums at the2024 Bavarian Open or the2024 International Challenge Cup.[15][16] At these events, Nagaoka/Moriguchi finished fourth and sixth respectively. Although the pair scored the scored the minimum technical element score needed for the free skate, they failed to score the minimum technical element score for the short program. As a result, they were unable to compete at the 2024 World Championships.[17][1]
Nagaoka/Moriguchi began their season by competing at the2024 CS John Nicks International Pairs Competition, where they finished eighth.[1] Going on to compete on the2024–25 Grand Prix series, Nagaoka/Moriguchi scored personal bests in all competition segments at the2024 NHK Trophy and finish in seventh place overall.[14] The team would also surpass the minimum technical element score, making them eligible to compete at the World Championships.[18] Initially only assigned one Grand Prix event, Nagaoka/Moriguch were assigned to the2024 Finlandia Trophy days before the event following the withdrawal of Australian pair teamGolubeva/Giotopoulos Moore.[19][20] At the event, the pair place eighth of the eight pair teams in the short program but would score a personal best free skate by almost eight points, finishing third in that competition segment and moving up to sixth place overall.[14][21]
In late December, the pair won the silver medal at the2024–25 Japan Championships behindMiura/Kihara.[22][23] They were subsequently named to the Four Continents and World teams.[24][25]
Selected to compete at the2025 Asian Winter Games inHarbin, China, Nagaoka/Moriguchi won the bronze medal behindGeynish/Chigirev andRyom/Han.[26]
At the2025 Four Continents Championships inSeoul, South Korea, Nagaoka/Moriguchi finished in seventh place following a ninth-place short program and a sixth-place free skate. Going on to compete at the2025 World Championships inBoston, Massachusetts, United States the following month, Nagaoka/Moriguchi placed twenty-second in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment.[14] Following this disappointing result, Nagaoka considered quitting the sport but decided to continue following the encouragement of Moriguchi.[27]
Feeling the need for a change and hoping to improve their consistency, Nagaoka/Moriguchi decided to make a coaching change fromBruno Marcotte andBrian Shales to Dmitri Savin,Fedor Klimov, andSofia Evdokimova.[28][27]
Nagaoka/Moriguchi kicked off their season by winning the bronze medal at the2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup. A couple weeks following that event, they competed at theISU Skate to Milano, the final qualifying event for the2026 Winter Olympics. There, they managed to capture the bronze medal thus securing a second Olympic berth for Japanese pair skating.[29][14]
The following month, Nagaoka/Moriguchi placed fourth at2025 NHK Trophy, earning new personal bests in the short program, free skate, and total scores in the process.[30]
Two weeks later, Nagaoka/Moriguchi finished fourth at2025 Finlandia Trophy. "We are very glad that the technical score and the PCS were both over 60," Moriguchi said after the free skate. "We know that there is room to improve on the throw jumps and also on the levels."[31]
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–2026 [32][33] |
|
|
|
| 2024–2025 [34] |
| ||
| 2023–2024 [2] |
|
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2022–2023 [8] |
|
|
| Season | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 22nd | ||
| Four Continents Championships | 7th | ||
| Japan Championships | 1st | 2nd | |
| GPFinland | 6th | TBD | |
| GPNHK Trophy | 8th | 7th | 4th |
| CSJohn Nicks Pairs Challenge | 8th | ||
| CSKinoshita Group Cup | 3rd | ||
| Asian Winter Games | 3rd | ||
| Bavarian Open | 4th | ||
| Challenge Cup | 6th | ||
| Skate to Milano | 3rd |
| National[10] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 22–23 |
| Japan Junior | 23rd |
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 202.11 | 2025 NHK Trophy |
| Short program | TSS | 71.52 | 2025 NHK Trophy |
| TES | 39.94 | 2025 NHK Trophy | |
| PCS | 31.58 | 2025 NHK Trophy | |
| Free skating | TSS | 130.59 | 2025 NHK Trophy |
| TES | 66.22 | 2025 NHK Trophy | |
| PCS | 64.37 | 2025 NHK Trophy |
Current personal best scores are highlighted inbold.
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Nov 24–26, 2023 | 2023 NHK Trophy | 8 | 45.36 | 8 | 90.03 | 8 | 135.39 |
| Dec 20–24, 2023 | 2023–24 Japan Championships | 1 | 56.07 | 1 | 117.57 | 1 | 173.64 |
| Jan 30–Feb 4, 2024 |  2024 Bavarian Open | 5 | 48.90 | 4 | 100.35 | 4 | 149.25 |
| Feb 22–25, 2024 |  2024 Challenge Cup | 6 | 51.98 | 4 | 106.46 | 6 | 158.44 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 3–4, 2024 |  2024 CS John Nicks Pairs | 8 | 55.92 | 8 | 102.98 | 8 | 158.90 |
| Nov 8–10, 2024 | 2024 NHK Trophy | 5 | 60.32 | 7 | 112.15 | 7 | 172.47 |
| Nov 15–17, 2024 |  2024 Finlandia Trophy | 8 | 51.75 | 3 | 120.05 | 6 | 171.80 |
| Dec 19–22, 2024 | 2024–25 Japan Championships | 2 | 61.82 | 2 | 114.86 | 2 | 176.68 |
| Feb 11–13, 2025 |  2025 Asian Winter Games | 2 | 58.49 | 3 | 109.86 | 3 | 168.35 |
| Feb 19–23, 2025 |  2025 Four Continents Championships | 9 | 57.29 | 6 | 117.47 | 7 | 174.76 |
| Mar 25–30, 2025 | 2025 World Championships | 22 | 51.10 | - | - | 22 | 51.10 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 5–7, 2025 | 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup | 3 | 66.27 | 3 | 126.50 | 3 | 192.77 |
| Sep 18–21, 2025 | 2025 ISU Skate to Milano | 4 | 62.68 | 3 | 115.98 | 3 | 178.66 |
| Nov 7–9, 2025 | 2025 NHK Trophy | 4 | 71.52 | 3 | 130.59 | 4 | 202.11 |
| 2022–23 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 25–27, 2022 | 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships | 22 45.20 | 23 77.32 | 23 122.52 |
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