Shun Sato

is a Japanese figure skater. He is a 2026 Olympic Games team event silver medalist, 2026 Olympic bronze medalist in the individual event, 2026 World bronze medalist, two-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2024, bronze in 2023), a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a nine-time Grand Prix medalist, a two-time ISU Challenger Series silver medalist, and the 2025–26 Japanese national silver medalist.

At the junior level, Sato is the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a two-time Japan Junior national silver medalist. He is also the former junior world record holder for the men's free skating and combined total score and is known for his jumping prowess.

Personal life Sato was born on February 6, 2004, in Sendai, Japan.

After graduating from Saitama Sakae High School, he enrolled into Meiji University in 2023, where he currently studies at the School of Political Science and Economics.

Career Early career

Sato began skating in 2009 at the age of five, and his first figure skating coach was Suguru Namioka. In 2011, Sato temporarily moved his training to Saitama after he and his family were forced to evacuate Sendai following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In 2018, he returned to Saitama; where Tadao Kusaka began coaching him. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Sato won the silver medal at the 2024 Skate Canada International.

Sato's results on the Grand Prix series allowed him to qualify for the 2024–25 Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. At the Final, he placed fourth in the short program after falling on a quadruple lutz attempt. In the free skate, Sato would land three clean quad jumps and earn the highest technical score out of all the men in the event. He would place third in that segment and win the bronze medal overall behind Ilia Malinin and Yuma Kagiyama. In spite of this result, Sato was named to the World team due to his strong results on the Grand Prix circuit.

The following month, Sato placed fifth at the 2025 Winter World University Games in Turin, Italy. In late February, he also finished fifth at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China. In the free skate, he landed another quad Lutz, then received an edge call on a quadruple flip jump and had a fall on a quadruple toe loop. With no other major mistakes, he finished in sixth place overall. He said afterward, "I'm sighing with relief. For the past month, I've really been practicing like my life depended on it, so I'm glad that effort paid off. I think my performance dispelled my regrets from failing at the All-Japan Championships."

Sato finished the season by competing at the 2025 World Team Trophy for Team Japan. Despite competing with a fever, he managed to finish the event in fourth place overall with Team Japan ultimately winning the silver medal.

On 8 February, Sato competed in the free skate segment of the 2026 Winter Olympics Team Event. He placed second behind Ilia Malinin with a personal best free skate score, helping Team Japan to secure a silver medal. Reflecting on being the final skater of the Team Event and Team Japan only finishing one point behind Team United States of America, he shared, "Right after I finished skating, I was genuinely happy because I felt I had truly lived up to the team’s support. But once the scores were announced, I felt quite sad that we couldn’t win. I felt happy, but also disappointed."

On 10 February, Sato competed in the short program of the Men's singles event at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He placed ninth in that segment after stepping out of his quad toe-double toe combination. "I want to reset my mindset for the free skate and do my best to skate in a good way," he said following his performance. Two days later, apart from stepping out of his final triple Lutz jump, Sato skated an almost perfect free skate that included three clean quadruple jumps. He placed third in that segment and due to several skaters that placed ahead of him in the short program struggling with their free skates, Sato managed to climb up to the bronze medal position overall. He expressed shock and elation at the final result, saying, "I'm speechless. I never thought I'd make it to the podium. It hasn't really sunk in yet, and I still think it's a dream. I made a mistake in the short program, but I wasn't dwelling on it and performed a nearly flawless free skate. It was fun." “I was ninth after the short program,” noted Sato. “I was still frustrated that I hadn’t been able to perform at my full potential. But I never gave up. Heading into the free skate, I had controlled things well in the team event, so I held onto that positive image and focused on my own performance, thinking I would do my best.”

In March, Sato completed his season at the 2026 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. He placed fourth in the short program and third in the free skate to climb to the bronze medal position overall behind Ilia Malinin and Yuma Kagiyama. "I’m really happy that I was able to finish in good form at the very end," he said after the free skate. "Throughout this season, I continued to deliver many clean performances. I strongly wanted to have a performance without any mistakes at the end, as well. I’m really happy that I was able to achieve that."

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2026–2027 Csárdás of Love Poeta 2025–2026

Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra The Firebird Dance of the Firebird Round Dance of the Princesses Infernal Dance of King Kashchei Finale Senbonzakura 2024–2025 Pirates of the Caribbean Davy Jones & Imperial March Pirates of the Caribbean To the Pirate's Cave/Skull and Crossbones Battle of the Kings House of Cards Danuvius Guardians at the Gate Headlight 2019–2020