Mai Mihara

Mai Mihara (三原 舞依) is a Japanese competitive figure skater.

She is the 2022 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Four Continents champion (2017, 2022), the 2018 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2019 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy champion, the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo champion, and a two-time Japanese national medalist (silver in 2022 and bronze in 2016).

Mihara was born on 22 August 1999 in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.

She began skating during her second year of elementary school, after watching Mao Asada's figure skating performances on TV.

Mihara began skating in 2007.

In the 2012–13 season, she won the bronze medal in the Novice A category at the Japanese Novice Championships and placed 8th at the Japan Junior Championships.

During the 2013–14 season, Mihara debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) circuit, placing fifth in Minsk, Belarus.

After winning the Japanese national silver medal on the junior level, she finished her season by placing twelfth on the senior level at the Japan Championships.

Mihara started her season by placing sixth at her JGP event in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

She then placed seventh at the Japan Junior Championships and ninth at the Japan Championships.

Mihara made her senior international debut in early August 2015, winning the Asian Open ahead of Riona Kato.

She was awarded silver medals at her JGP events in Bratislava, Slovakia and Linz, Austria, and qualified for the 2015–16 JGP Final in Barcelona.

Mihara placed eighth at the 2015–16 Japanese Junior Championships and sixth at the JGP Final.

She was diagnosed with arthritis in December, following the JGP Final.

In September, Mihara competed at her first Challenger Series competition, the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.

Ranked second in the short program and first in the free skate, she won the gold medal ahead of Russia's Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

Her Grand Prix debut came the following month at the 2016 Skate America.

She was awarded the bronze medal, behind American skaters Ashley Wagner and Mariah Bell, after placing second in the short and third in the free.

She finished fourth at her next Grand Prix assignment, the 2016 Cup of China.

In December 2016, Mihara took bronze at the Japan Championships, ranking fifth in the short and second in the free.

In 2017, she signed an affiliation agreement with Sysmex, a Japanese company involved with healthcare and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

She has donated her hair three times as of 2022 towards the creation of wigs for individuals who have lost hair due to accidents or medical conditions such as alopecia.

After becoming the Four Continents champion in 2017 while skating to Cinderella, she earned the nickname "Cinderella on Ice".

In February 2017, she placed fourth in the short and first in the free at the Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, outscoring Canada's Gabrielle Daleman by 3.94 points for the gold medal.

In March 2017, Mihara competed at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Ranked fifteenth in the short program after doubling and falling on a planned triple flip, Mihara ranked fourth in the free skate and climbed to fifth overall.

In April, she competed as part of Team Japan at the 2017 World Team Trophy.

She achieved a personal best of 72.10 points in the short program and scored a Japanese national record of 146.17 points in the free skate.

She finished second behind Medvedeva and 0.83 ahead of compatriot Wakaba Higuchi while Team Japan won the gold medal.

Mihara won silver at the 2017 CS Autumn Classic International.

She placed fourth at both of her Grand Prix assignments, 2017 Cup of China and 2017 Internationaux de France.

After a fifth-place finish at the 2017-18 Japan Figure Skating Championships she was assigned to the 2018 Four Continents Championships.

At the championships, she was third in the short program behind countrywomen Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto.

After a second-place finish in the free skate and mistakes from Miyahara, Mihara rose to second place overall.

Mihara graduated from Ashiya High School in 2018, then obtained an undergraduate degree at Konan University in 2022.

Mihara suffers from juvenile idiopathic arthritis, skating despite the disease.

Mihara won silver at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.

In the Grand Prix, she first competed at the 2018 NHK Trophy, the most hotly-contested ladies' event on the Grand Prix that year.

She was third in the short program but dropped to fourth in the free skate and overall despite making only one error, a jump under rotation.

She then narrowly placed second at the 2018 Internationaux de France, slightly behind compatriot Rika Kihira.