Shoma Uno

[16Olympics]

Thanks for thinking of me guys. I am fine! I was pretty shell shocked Saturday night and felt it better to not “speak” until I had processed things. This was the 13th time I have seen Sho compete live. The last time I saw him end up off the podium was at 2016 Worlds! To say I was shocked was an understatement. As I said before the competition, there were 4 strong men competing, and I hated that one very deserving guy was going to end up off the podium Never EVER did I think it would be Sho!

I haven’t had time to read the comments and listen to any commentary, and frankly, I’m afraid it might hurt. I will though once I get home. From the little I’ve seen or heard though, I believe Shoma was just as I would have expected – incredibly gracious, kind, and sportsmanlike whether he is facing victory or defeat – a true class act and champion.

I will watch the FS again later, since my Sho amnesia has really kicked in. But what I will remember most is the SP. It was really an out-of-body experience. Words fail me! Sublime? Seamless? Breathtaking? It was absolutely lovely. His “Come Together” EX – WOW! His skating skills? Amazing! Seeing him at practices and meeting the many Shoma fans who were there was really fun.

I understand there was a Meet and Greet with Stephane on Sunday, and Stephane said Shoma was ok – just as we knew he would be! They agreed that not every day could be a winning day…It made me think about how Sho has been skating for 21 years, and I don’t even know how long he has been competing. He knows what this is like! What was it Stephane said? There are good days and bad days?

I’m glad to hear that people are letting their tears come! I think they are tears of love as much as tears of sadness. I decided early on that I wouldn’t allow myself to cry over skating! When I first started following Shoma and his antis were beating him up constantly, I realized that if my hobby made me cry, I needed to get a new hobby! This time, I will break my rule and will shed a few. OMG, I’m crying on the plane while I’m writing this!!! Tears of so many emotions for my Numero Uno and the forever gold medalist in my heart.

I’m going to grieve for a few days when I get home and then be happy again and pray for another season!!!!! (Oops -- sorry this got so long)

Thanks for your thoughts, Arriba. I agree about keeping the sp at the top of your thoughts about World's. It was so epic. Shoma is always a class act in victory and loss. He has some deciding to do and I'll enjoy what he's done and hope he decides whatever is the best for him. I hope I get to see it.

 

[Arriba627]

Hello from a loooong time fan and lurker who wanted to share with you in this moment!

Welcome and thx for joining us, albeit at a rather melancholy moment. Thank you for your kind words.

 

[noskates]

To say Shoma is a class act is an understatement. My heart hurt for him when they showed him clapping for Ilia.

 

[Arriba627]

Shoma has grown up as an artist. He is at such another level. He's always been very musical and passionate. But there is something newer, or at least, it is newer to the degree of quality that it is now : he makes one with the ice and the music. The last time I saw this in a skater is Patrick. So huge compliment from me ! I already felt that years ago, and that's why I got into Shoma's skating of course. But today, it was something else... his SP is not easy to deliver. The slow pace with long, sweeping musical phrases requires extreme command of the blades and of the ice. He was in sync with the emotional content and the musical phrase at all times. The jumps were great but they were just part of it... not the aim of the skating. Shoma was on another planet today. I screamed so hard, I lost my voice. I clapped so much, that my skin cracked (okay, I live in this cold city, my skin is already dry but that was the last straw).

I am willing to suffer even more Saturday and scream louder. I am willing to bleed while clapping if it helps.

This is one program I will never forget. (with or without Prevagen!)

Shoma and I : love at first sight (for me it was Green Shoma leprechaun). But Shoma's skating is at such another level now that my appreciation for him and his skating is on a completely different level. Today's SP was just so spectacular.

I feel very blessed to experience this in my hood, walking back and forth to the rink... and being able to give myself fully in embracing this moment.

THANK YOU SHOMA ! And thank you all Shoma fans for being so nice, charming, welcoming and supportive !

I always look forward to your posts and appreciate you sharing your perspective from a musician's point of view. You are definitely a long-time fan if you remember him from his leprechaun days!

 

[Arriba627]

To say Shoma is a class act is an understatement. My heart hurt for him when they showed him clapping for Ilia.

This is pretty normal for him. He actually got a lot of heat from certain fans for clapping wholeheartedly for Nathan at the Olys. His sportsmanship is one of the 100 things I love about him.

 

[Arriba627]

Does he not like taking pictures and giving autographs after competitions? I thought he did that a lot in the past.

That'll never happen -- security risk, and if you sign one, where do you stop. Every now and then at a Challenger event he has signed autographs. I had him sign my JPN flag, but I was the only person there at a private rink. My understanding is that in Japan, it is (almost?) impossible to get his autograph. At least this is what I have been told by several fans.

Case in point -- at this competition, U.S. Pairs skater Danny O'Shea was sitting in the stands. He has fans but certainly not the fan base that Sho has. In a heartbeat, a huge crowd formed around him and it got a little scary. A reporter who was trying to do an interview with him helped get him out of there!!!

 

[Arriba627]

Glad to know Sho had a safe trip back to Japan. Rest up a little bit Sho! You've worked very hard!

 

[Louby]

Shoma's hair is looking a little wild.... Hope a trip to the barbers is on the cards . A lovely video of a reunion with the dogs would gladden our hearts.

 

[yuumagical]

Which of his programs did he say he likes the best? I’m trying to figure out which one to skate to in a future performance to honor him.

I'm not sure if he has a particular favorite program, although I suspect he enjoys Great Spirit the most, he does it often in ice shows. However, there are legitimate concerns related to cultural appropriation surrounding that piece of music (the band simply used a Lakota-English dictionary to write the lyrics), so I don't think it would be a good piece to skate to. Also, I think it's the type of thing only Shoma himself could pull off successfully.

More importantly, which aspects of Shoma's skating style resonate with you the most? Do you prefer that fiery, sensual style like Loco? Do you prefer the modern emo style like Dancing On My Own? Do you prefer the classical music style like Oboe? If there is a particular aspect of his skating style that you enjoy the most, then creating a program that utilizes that aspect the most would be a perfect tribute to him. Even using your favorite piece of music that Shoma has used would probably be a good idea! (Bear in mind that this advice is coming from someone with very basic skating skills who simply enjoys doing swizzles whenever she visits an ice rink, lol)

Edit: I am finally home safe and sound! Man, what a trip that was. A trip with many highs and many lows...I'll need some time to recuperate.

 

[16Olympics]

I'm not sure if he has a particular favorite program, although I suspect he enjoys Great Spirit the most, he does it often in ice shows. However, there are legitimate concerns related to cultural appropriation surrounding that piece of music (the band simply used a Lakota-English dictionary to write the lyrics), so I don't think it would be a good piece to skate to. Also, I think it's the type of thing only Shoma himself could pull off successfully.

More importantly, which aspects of Shoma's skating style resonate with you the most? Do you prefer that fiery, sensual style like Loco? Do you prefer the modern emo style like Dancing On My Own? Do you prefer the classical music style like Oboe? If there is a particular aspect of his skating style that you enjoy the most, then creating a program that utilizes that aspect the most would be a perfect tribute to him. Even using your favorite piece of music that Shoma has used would probably be a good idea! (Bear in mind that this advice is coming from someone with very basic skating skills who simply enjoys doing swizzles whenever she visits an ice rink, lol)

Edit: I am finally home safe and sound! Man, what a trip that was. A trip with many highs and many lows...I'll need some time to recuperate.

I simply love some of his gala programs like Our Town. The new gala program was thought to be a short program when he first showed it in summer shows, wasn't it? But, then he didn't use it for that. Ladies in Lavender is elegant and has beautiful music unless fire is what you want then I'd go for Loco. His new I Love You sp is intricate and suits him to a T. If I could ever skate again, I'd love to be able to do any part of any of these programs.

 

[Louby]

For me the classic style of Oboe and Air on a G String is the winner. The accents of the music and choreography are a perfect fit. I could imagine Shoma entertaining high society in the 17th and 18th century to the music of that era. They would have treasured Shoma, in the same way we do in this fan fest!

 

[yuumagical]

For me the classic style of Oboe and Air on a G String is the winner. The accents of the music and choreography are a perfect fit. I could imagine Shoma entertaining high society in the 17th and 18th century to the music of that era. They would have treasured Shoma, in the same way we do in this fan fest!

I agree (though the fiery style can easily induce a reaction out of me). There's just something about how he pays attention to the music that turns his skating into high art! As a person who sincerely believes in reincarnation, I feel Shoma may have very well been someone who entertained back then too...and I hope I was a fan of his back then too.

 

[ana]

Shoma is best skater right now. So sad that the cannot deliver at this WC. He put to musc pressure on him. I hope he'll come back next season stronger than ever. Still, Shoma is two time WC and three x Olympic medalists. He should be proud of himself. He has incredibile musicality, beautiful spins, jumps, skating skills. I hope Shoma will add more to his legacy before he retires.

 

[Figskater23]

Shoma's hair is looking a little wild.... Hope a trip to the barbers is on the cards . A lovely video of a reunion with the dogs would gladden our hearts.

His hair looks really nice.

 

[Figskater23]

For me the classic style of Oboe and Air on a G String is the winner. The accents of the music and choreography are a perfect fit. I could imagine Shoma entertaining high society in the 17th and 18th century to the music of that era. They would have treasured Shoma, in the same way we do in this fan fest!

Indeed

 

[Figskater23]

I'm not sure if he has a particular favorite program, although I suspect he enjoys Great Spirit the most, he does it often in ice shows. However, there are legitimate concerns related to cultural appropriation surrounding that piece of music (the band simply used a Lakota-English dictionary to write the lyrics), so I don't think it would be a good piece to skate to. Also, I think it's the type of thing only Shoma himself could pull off successfully.

More importantly, which aspects of Shoma's skating style resonate with you the most? Do you prefer that fiery, sensual style like Loco? Do you prefer the modern emo style like Dancing On My Own? Do you prefer the classical music style like Oboe? If there is a particular aspect of his skating style that you enjoy the most, then creating a program that utilizes that aspect the most would be a perfect tribute to him. Even using your favorite piece of music that Shoma has used would probably be a good idea! (Bear in mind that this advice is coming from someone with very basic skating skills who simply enjoys doing swizzles whenever she visits an ice rink, lol)

Edit: I am finally home safe and sound! Man, what a trip that was. A trip with many highs and many lows...I'll need some time to recuperate.

Great Spirit would probably be the most difficult out of all his programs for me to skate to. It’s too fast for me. I can’t go super fast yet in a program. Laps around the rink for just plain exercise yes. I love all the styles he has, but if I had to pick just one it would be his classical style. I love to skate to beautiful instrumental music. My level is Adult 5 right now. I want to be able to just flow with all the skating skills whether basic or advanced. I think that’s what I love most about Shoma’s skating. He makes everything flow and look beautiful. I definitely would like to do a cantilever in the program because that seems to be his signature move. I have a lot of training to do in order to do one. My signature is lunge, back lunge, then splits on both sides.

 

[rabidline]

This is random but I just realized the 2023-2024 season was the first competitive season in which Shoma posted 100+ scores for all his competed SPs, which means he skated his SP clean or clean-ish all season long. The little bobbles was only the underrotations in the 4T3T at NHK and the 4T2T at Nationals.

While I do feel it's a good time for Shoma to step down competitively, I guess there is always room for improvement I imagine telling myself back in March 2019 that Shoma will skate his SP clean all season long, with 4T3Ts... my old self would have laughed with tears of relief. We were so stressed because of the short program and the missing 4T3T!

But also I don't mean this as evidence that Shoma should continue competing. Free skate is a different beast compared to short program. And I have seen enough skates from skaters Shoma's age, where suddenly without warning all the wheels came off during the competition, even if it didn't look that bad at practice. So even though the SP is great, the FS is more difficult and is going to continue becoming more difficult as Shoma gets older. So it makes sense that there are days where he can skate his FS like at NHK Trophy, and other days where it didn't go well like at Worlds. Well.... hoping only for the best for him!

 

[noskates]

I think Shoma just had an off night. It happens. It's just unfortunate it was at Worlds. I'm certainly not ready to give up on him yet or announce that he's aging out of the sport. One thing is for certain though -he's going to always have to skate clean. I think Shoma, Adam SHF and Ilia are going to make life really interesting leading up to and including the Olys. They are the 3 men to watch!

 

[yuumagical]

I think Shoma just had an off night. It happens. It's just unfortunate it was at Worlds. I'm certainly not ready to give up on him yet or announce that he's aging out of the sport. One thing is for certain though -he's going to always have to skate clean. I think Shoma, Adam SHF and Ilia are going to make life really interesting leading up to and including the Olys. They are the 3 men to watch!

I'm not counting out Shoma at this point in time (And I'm not counting out Yuma Kagiyama at this point in time either! But that's another discussion for another thread.), though I was quite disheartened after his free skate.

I noticed a couple of factors while watching live that could have contributed to Shoma having a bad night:

1. He was simply not landing jumps very well during the 6-minute warmup. I recall lots of single jumps. It was a little unnerving.

2. Shoma had a visibly shocked reaction when the crowd reacted with shock at Lukas Britschgi's low components score. Perhaps he might not have been able to tell that the shocked reaction wasn't about him.

There are other things I really don't want to recall, like shouting "Nooo!" after Shoma fell on his first jump, or crying into my banner after it was over, or being depressed at seeing a total score under 300...That was a performance where I wish I had Shomnesia...

 

[Figskater23]

I'm not counting out Shoma at this point in time (And I'm not counting out Yuma Kagiyama at this point in time either! But that's another discussion for another thread.), though I was quite disheartened after his free skate.

I noticed a couple of factors while watching live that could have contributed to Shoma having a bad night:

1. He was simply not landing jumps very well during the 6-minute warmup. I recall lots of single jumps. It was a little unnerving.

2. Shoma had a visibly shocked reaction when the crowd reacted with shock at Lukas Britschgi's low components score. Perhaps he might not have been able to tell that the shocked reaction wasn't about him.

There are other things I really don't want to recall, like shouting "Nooo!" after Shoma fell on his first jump, or crying into my banner after it was over, or being depressed at seeing a total score under 300...That was a performance where I wish I had Shomnesia...

Wait I’m still confused about number 2. Shoma might have thought the crowds shocked reaction was because of him (Shoma himself)?