Shizuka Arakawa

Shizuka Arakawa (荒川 静香) is a retired Japanese figure skater.

While still 7, Arakawa began training with former Olympian Hiroshi Nagakubo, a pair skater who competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.

She was landing triple Salchows at age 8.

Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver in 1992.

She is also the second Japanese woman to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, following skier Tae Satoya.

In 1994, she began participating in Japanese national skating competitions.

She was named the 1994, 1995, 1996 All Japan Junior Figure athlete.

Arakawa progressed through the Japanese ranks quickly and was the first skater in Japan to win three consecutive junior national titles.

Arakawa was the senior national Japanese champion in both 1998 and 1999.

She made her Olympic debut when she represented Japan in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano at age 16.

The Emperor and Empress Of Japan attended the ladies' free skate event.

In March 2000, Arakawa enrolled at Waseda University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in social sciences in 2004, while still competing as a skater.

In 2002, Arakawa finished second at Japan's national championships and, as a result, was not named to the Japanese 2002 Winter Olympics team.

During the 2002–2003 skating season, Arakawa won the Asian Winter Games and the Winter Universiade.

She earned her second consecutive silver medal at the Four Continents Championships.

She took the bronze at the NHK Trophy, and placed fifth at the Cup of Russia.

She qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final, where she finished fourth.

She later placed third at the Japanese Nationals, marking her fifth medal from this meet, with two golds and two silvers from previous seasons.

She won the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships days after completing her graduation examinations at Waseda University.

She lived and trained for a time at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut after the closure of the Konami Sports Ice Rink in Sendai, where she began her career.

Her figure skating idols are Kristi Yamaguchi and Yuka Sato.

She listens to music by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mai Kuraki (who is also a close friend of hers) and EXILE, and likes shopping, driving, swimming, golf and practicing marine sports.

Arakawa cites gourmet cooking as one of her hobbies.

She collects beanie babies, has a pet shih tzu (named Charo) and hamster (named Juntoki).

She also has four dogs, named Choco, Tiramisu, Aroma and Rosa.

She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion.

She was the only Japanese medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Arakawa retired from competitive skating following her Olympic win and began skating professionally in ice shows and exhibitions.

She also works as a skating sportscaster for Japanese television.

Arakawa was born in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan, and grew up in Sendai and its suburbs.

She is the only child of Koichi and Sachi Arakawa and was named Shizuka after Shizuka Gozen.

Arakawa was married on December 29, 2013, her 32nd birthday.

Further details were not made public.

She placed 13th at the Nagano Olympics.

At that time, she was ranked number 2 in Japan.

On April 16, 2014, Arakawa announced that she was pregnant and expecting her first child.

On November 6, 2014, she gave birth to her daughter.

On May 23, 2018, it was announced that she had given birth again to her son.

When Arakawa was 5 years old, she became interested in skating and entered the Chibikko Skate School.

She started ballet lessons at 7.