Shun Sato: “Shoma told me ‘There’s always a reason for mistakes. If you see mistakes as opportunities to grow, they’re not so scary.’ His words really resonated with me. My approach to competition changed completely.”
Shun Sato’s journey to the 2025 Grand Prix Final
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. 12th November 2025 by Yoshie Nogichi
Shun Sato’s journey to the Grand Prix Final was shaped by overcoming mental hurdles, injury, and learning from Shoma Uno, leading to a personal best and a new approach to competition. Here’s a translation of his comments posted on Sports Graphic Number Web.
A major turning point in Shun Sato’s skating life came at last December’s Japanese Nationals. Aiming for victory, he made repeated mistakes due to extreme nerves and finished seventh overall. After his performance, he suffered hyperventilation and collapsed, acutely feeling his mental weakness.
Wanting to regain his confidence for Worlds in March, Sato reflected on his approach to competition:
“When things go well, it’s when I’m not focused on winning or skating clean. Of course, I want to win, but I know it’s best to go into a competition without thinking about it. But when the event comes, I end up thinking, ‘I have to win,’ or ‘I’m afraid to fail.’”
For naturally aggressive types, thinking “I’ll win” can fuel their drive. But Sato, who doesn’t show his emotions much, wondered what mindset would work best for him. He thought of other skaters’ examples – especially Shoma Uno.
“When I listen to Uno’s interviews, he never declares, ‘I want to win,’ and I feel similar. I’d like to ask him what kind of mentality leads to good performances.”
Before Worlds, Sato had a chance to meet Uno, who said, “Shun’s way of thinking is similar to mine. Even with high-level practice, I’ve often struggled to deliver in competition, so I understand well.” They exchanged long emails about practice methods and competition mentality.
Uno kept the details private, but the message was: “There’s always a reason for mistakes. If you see mistakes as opportunities to grow, they’re not so scary.”
“Uno’s words really resonated with me,” Sato said. “I started thinking about why I made mistakes and worked on improving my jumps. My approach to competition changed completely.”
At Worlds, Sato was calm and composed, landing quad Llutzes in both the short and free programs. He finished sixth in his debut, gaining confidence.
However, aiming for further progress, Sato injured his right ankle at an ice show in June – a bone bruise requiring two months of recovery. It was a painful setback in an Olympic season. But Sato didn’t panic, recalling Uno’s advice about “how to use your time.”
Coach Kusaka explained:
“Based on Uno’s advice, we combined it with Shun’s style and discussed our approach. We stopped doing long, drawn-out practices. We divided time for short program, spins, jumps, and each part of the free skate. For jumps, we avoided excessive repetitions to prevent worsening the injury.”
Even with less practice volume, Sato built confidence by improving quality. He reflected on the days leading up to NHK Trophy:
“Since before Worlds, my practice methods and quality have changed a lot. Thanks to Uno’s advice, I make fewer unsatisfying mistakes in practice. I feel every day is meaningful now.”
On November 7 at NHK Trophy, Sato landed a quad lutz at the start of his short program, followed by a quad toe loop and triple axel, all clean. He scored 96.67, just behind Yuma Kagiyama.
“I wasn’t nervous before I started and was able to skate just like in practice. The quad lutz might have been a bit under-rotated, but I landed it. Other than the lutz, I’d practiced high-quality jumps many times, so I was able to show that.”
On the morning of the free skate, Sato stopped his run-through midway during official practice, then finished with just the final step sequence after talking with Coach Kusaka.
“In official practice, I focused on not overdoing it. Before, I’d keep jumping until I was satisfied, but now I try to save energy for the main event.”
He even did a double lutz to check his feel, preserving his injured area. By the evening, he appeared for the main event with confidence.
“Even at the hotel before the competition, I used to be nervous and restless, unable to sleep. This time, after official practice, I took a 20–30 minute nap and was able to prepare in a good flow.”
During the six-minute warm-up, he limited himself to one attempt of each jump.
“I feel like I’ve really grown in how I approach competitions and use the six-minute warm-up. I was very calm before my performance.”
In the free skate, Sato opened with a light quad lutz and landed all his jumps. After finishing, he raised his right hand in satisfaction.
“I was simply happy. There wasn’t a single risky jump, and I was able to skate just like in practice, so I was honestly happy.”
He set a new personal best with 189.04 points, winning the free skate over Kagiyama and taking silver overall, becoming the first Japanese man to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.
“I’m really happy to have won the free skate. I think my score was enough to get me to the Final. There’s a month until the Grand Prix Final. I still missed some spin levels, so I’ll work on the details and make sure my injury is fully healed.”
Asked about Coach Kusaka’s reaction, Sato replied shyly:
“He said, ‘You really did great!’ I think he was even happier than I was (laughs).”
But Sato added his own thoughts:
“I think I was able to connect with the audience during the choreo sequence. At the Grand Prix Final, I want to move even more and show more emotion and expressiveness. Even this time, I was passionate inside, thinking, ‘I did it!’”
Related topics: Shun Sato
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