Mao Shimada

is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2024 Youth Olympic champion, a four-time World Junior champion (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026), a four-time ISU Junior Grand Prix Final champion (2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025-26), an eight-time ISU Junior Grand Prix gold medalist, a four-time Japanese national medalist (silver in 2025 and 2026, bronze in 2023 and 2024), and a five-time Japanese junior national champion (2021–2025). She is the twenty-first woman in history to have successfully landed a triple Axel jump, fourteenth woman to successfully land a quadruple jump and second Japanese woman to land a quadruple toeloop in competition.

As a junior skater, Shimada won all 19 international events she competed in, accomplishing a Junior Golden Slam as well as 4 consecutive Junior Grand Slams, making her the most dominant skater in the junior field in the history of figure skating.

Personal life Shimada was born on 30 October 2008 in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan.

At the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final, Shimada came second in the short program, behind primary rival Shin Ji-a, after an error on the landing of her triple Lutz. She said she was "very upset" at the mistake, attributing it to nervousness from having previously made a mistake at the junior national championship. In the free skate, she successfully landed her quadruple toe loop for the first time, becoming only the second Japanese woman to do so, and also landed her triple Axel and all but one of her other planned jumps. She won the segment and rose to take the gold medal.

Shimada was invited to skate in the gala at the 2025 World Team Trophy as the three-time World Junior champion.

2025–26 season: Fourth consecutive Junior World and JGP Final titles During the summer off-season, Shimada injured the sole of her right foot. Despite this, she began competing in early August at the Kinoshita Summer Cup, an annual Japanese domestic competition. Shimada won both segments of the competition and performed an entirely clean free skate landing both a triple axel and quad toe-loop. She took the gold medal overall. Yoshiki, the composer of the program's music praised her performance on X, tweeting, "Wonderful skating to Miracle. As the composer, I’m very happy. I’m cheering for you. Amazing skating performance, thank you for using my composition."

She next competed at a second domestic Japanese competition, this time the 2025 Tokyo Summer Trophy. She skated a clean short program and went into first place. In the free skate her only mistake was a step out on her quad-toeloop attempt. She otherwise skated cleanly and won the gold medal by over thirty points.

Going on to compete internationally, Shimada began the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix series by winning gold at 2025 JGP Thailand. Two weeks before her second Junior Grand Prix assignment, Shimada sustained a bone bruise in her left ankle and as a result, was advised to not jump the quad toe-loop at the upcoming event. Despite this, Shimada managed to win the gold medal at the 2025 JGP United Arab Emirates by almost eight-and-a-half points. Her Junior Grand Prix series results allowed her to qualify for the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final.

In late November, she competed at the 2025–26 Japan Junior Championships, where she won the junior national title for a fifth consecutive time, becoming the first Japanese skater to do so.

Going on to compete at the Junior Grand Prix Final, Shimada won the title for a fourth consecutive time. Two weeks later, she won the silver medal behind Kaori Sakamoto at the 2025–26 Japan Championships. She went on to place second in the free skate behind Australian, Hana Bath, however her lead in the short program kept her in first place overall. "I was exhausted today," admitted Shimada after the free skate. "However, I was able to finish my skating, and I think the fact that I never gave up and finished my skate led to this result. Winning four consecutive titles is not easy. This season had more struggles than good times." Shimada became the first woman in history in both junior and senior divisions to win 4 consecutive world championships.

Programs

Competitive highlights

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level