Fumie Suguri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fumie Suguri

Personal Info
Country:	Japan
Residence:	Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Height:	157 cm
Coach:	Nobuo Sato
Skating Club:	avex
ISU Personal Best Scores
Short + Free Total:	182.08	2004 GPF
Short Program:	62.12	2006 Worlds
Free Skate:	120.06	2004 GPF

Most Recent Results:
Event	Points	Finish	Year
NHK Trophy	179.31	2nd	2006

Fumie Suguri (村主章枝; Suguri Fumie, born December 31, 1980 in Chiba, Japan) is a Japanese figure skater. Suguri is a five-time Japanese National Champion, three-time World Championship medalist, and the 2004 Grand Prix Final Champion.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Trivia 3 Career highlights 4 Records 5 Competitive highlights 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Biography

Her coach is Nobuo Sato, a ten-time Japanese national champion. She has been working with him since she was six years old. She was briefly coached by Oleg Vasiliev during the 2004-05 season, but he was fired by the Japanese federation after she struggled with her jumps and had poor results in her competitions. Her programs are choreographed by Lori Nichol. Her younger sister, Chika, is also a figure skater.

Suguri is considered to be one of the most successful skaters in Japanese history, along with Emi Watanabe, Midori Ito, Yuka Sato and Shizuka Arakawa. She won her first Japanese national title in 1997, and won it three more times between 2001-2003 and again in 2006. Suguri won the 2001 Four Continents Championships, which she would go on to win three more times throughout her career (2001, 2003, 2005). In 2002, she won her first World Championship medal, a bronze, behind Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya one month after placing fifth at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Her bronze medal at Worlds marked the first time a Japanese woman had been on the podium at the World Championships since Yuka Sato won the title in 1994.

She again won the bronze the following year at Worlds behind Elena Sokolova and Kwan. In 2004, she placed first at the NHK Trophy, 3rd at Cup of China and qualified for the 2004 Grand Prix Final. Suguri won the Final over favorite Sasha Cohen.

In 2006 she climbed a spot up on the World Championship podium after winning the silver behind American Kimmie Meissner. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy she narrowly missed medaling, placing fourth.

In 2007, Suguri finished fourth at the Japanese championships behind younger competitors Yukari Nakano, Miki Ando and Mao Asada missing a spot to the World Championships in her home country. She competed at the Four Continents Championships, where she withdrew due to injury after falling on two jumps in her short program.

[edit] Trivia

She was taught the triple lutz jump by Michelle Kwan. The 1994 World Championship was held in Chiba, Japan, Fumie's hometown. Kwan, 13 at the time, was training at Fumie's practice rink preparing for the competition. Suguri asked Kwan to show her how to do a triple lutz, and Michelle performed the jump. As a result, the triple lutz is her favorite jump. During the night of the long program at the 2002 Olympics, she let Sasha Cohen borrow her tights after Cohen forgot to bring hers to the competition.

Suguri is known for her soft jump landings and fast back scratch spins.

[edit] Career highlights

• ISU Grand Prix Final Champion (2004)
• Qualified to five Grand Prix Finals (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007)
• Three-time Four Continents Champion (2001, 2003, 2005)
• Four-time Asian Winter Games Medalist (1996-bronze, 1999-bronze, 2003-silver, 2007-silver)
• Five-time Japanese National Champion (1997, 2001-2003, 2006)
• Three-time World Medalist (Silver: 2006, Bronze: 2002-2003)
• Six Top Ten Finishes at Worlds (2001-2006)
• Two-Time Olympian (Fifth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, Fourth at the 2006 Turin Olympic Games)

[edit] Records

• First Japanese woman to win the ISU Four Continents Championship
• Has more Four Continents titles than any other woman
• First Japanese woman to win the Grand Prix Final
• Has more world medals than any other Japanese figure skater
• Has more Asian Winter Games medals then any other female figure skater

[edit] Competitive highlights

Event/Season	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
Japanese Championships	-	-	-	4th	1st	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	4th
Four Continents	-	-	-	-	-	-	5th	4th	1st	-	1st	-	1st	-	WD
World Championships	-	-	-	-	18th	-	20th	-	7th	3rd	3rd	7th	5th	2nd	-
Asian Winter Games	-	-	-	3rd	-	-	3rd	-	-	-	2nd	-	-	-	2nd
Winter Olympics	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5th	-	-	-	4th	-
Grand Prix Final	-	-	-	-	-	-	5th	4th	-	-	6th	1st	-	-	4th
Skate Canada Int.	-	-	-	-	-	-	2nd	-	3rd	4th	2nd	9th	4th	8th	2nd
Bofrost Cup on Ice	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cup of China	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3rd	-	-	-
Trophee Eric Bompard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	-	-
Cup of Russia	-	-	-	-	7th	-	-	3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHK Trophy	-	-	-	-	6th	5th	3rd	-	5th	7th	4th	1st	-	2nd	2nd
Junior Japanese Championships	10th	9th	10th	2nd	2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Junior World Championships	-	-	-	4th	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

[edit] See also

• Figure Skating
• World Figure Skating Championships

[edit] External links

• fumiesuguri.com - Official website
• Michael Collins Enterprises Suguri Page
• ISU Biography Page
• NBCOlympics.com biography