Figure skater Miki Ando, who performed in solo skating, is known to many fans of this sport. She entered her name in history in 2002, when in the final of the Junior Grand Prix she was the first in the world to perform the quadruple salchow. About what other achievements are on the account of the Japanese woman and what she does after the end of her career, we will tell in the article.
Biography and first steps in sports
The future skater was born on December 18, 1987 in the city of Nagoya. The girl became interested in ice skating in 1996, when she was nine years old. According to Mika Ando, her father played a big role in her formation as an athlete. He loved his daughter very much and was happy when he saw her on skates, and she, in turn, made every effort to make her dad proud. Unfortunately, Mickey celebrated her main victories without him: her father died from an accident when she was very young.
First, the skater trained with Yuko Monna, and starting in 2000, Nobuo Sato became her mentor. In 2001, Miki won the Japanese championship among juniors and the Grand Prix finals, won bronze medals at the adult Japanese championship and world championship among juniors.
Career development
In 2002, the whole world found out about the figure skater Miki Ando: in the entire history of women's figure skating, she was the first to complete a successful quadruple jump in competitions. In the 2002/03 season, as part of the junior tournaments, the loner became the champion of Japan and the silver medalist of the world championship. A year later, victory in the world championship among juniors was added to her piggy bank.
In the 2004/05 season, Miki Ando began performing in adult competitions. At the stages of the Grand Prix, she won two medals, but in the final she was only fourth. After that, the figure skater won the Japanese championship and took sixth place in the world championship.
In the 2005/06 season, Miki trained in the United States under the guidance of renowned singles Carol Hayss. At the Japanese stage of the NHK Trophy and in the Grand Prix finals, the athlete was fourth.
The 2006 Olympics, which took place in Turin, Italy, were unsuccessful for the Japanese. Miki Ando fell three times and took only fifteenth place. Due to such an inexpressive result, the athlete subsequently did not get to the World Cup.
Under the leadership of Nikolai Morozov
After her failures, the skater decided to change her coach. Her new mentor was a Russian specialist Nikolai Morozov. In the 2006/07 season, under his leadership, Miki Ando won the Skate America stage and was second at the TrophéeEric Bompard, thanks to which she qualified for the Grand Prix finals in St. Petersburg. At this tournament, the athlete got the flu, was not in good shape and took only fifth place. Performing a free program at the Japanese championship, Miki Ando dislocated her shoulder. But this did not stop her from getting to the end and winning the “silver”.
In 2007, at the world championship in Tokyo, the skater became a champion. In both programs, she was second, but in terms of points she managed to get ahead of her main rival Mao Asadu. After that, Vogue magazine recognized the Japanese as "Woman of the Year."
The next season, Miki Ando was again harassed by setbacks. At the NHK Trophy, she took only fourth place, which is why she did not make it to the Grand Prix finals. At the championship of four continents, the athlete landed on two legs while trying to make a quadruple salchow and thereby deprived herself of the struggle for victory. At the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Miki took eighth place in the short program and withdrew from the competition due to leg muscle strain. However, there were successful performances this season: the skater won silver medals at the championship of Japan and Skate America.
In the 2009/10 season, the main achievements of Mika Ando were bronze in the world championship, victory in the Rostelecom Cup tournament, and also second place in the Grand Prix finals.
In the 2010/11 season, the skater won the Cup of Russia and Cup of China Grand Prix stages and became the world champion.
Birth of a daughter and retirement
In April 2013, Japanese Miki Ando gave birth to a daughter. The athlete chose not to spread about the father of the child. After the decree, the skater decided to return to the sport. According to Mika, she had to reacquaint herself with her body and train hard to achieve her former glide. But she could not get the required form: at the Japanese championship in 2014 she took seventh place and lost the right to participate in the Sochi Olympics. After that, the skater announced that she was ending her career.
