Mako Yamashita

Mako Yamashita
Yamashita at the 2018 Junior Worlds
Native name	山下 真瑚
Born	(2002-12-31) December 31, 2002 (age 22) Nagoya, Japan
Hometown	Nagoya, Japan
Height	1.51 m (4 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Japan
Coach	Machiko Yamada Yuko Hongo Soshi Tanaka
Skating club	Chukyo University
Began skating	2009
World Junior Championships 2018 Sofia Singles

Mako Yamashita (Japanese: 山下 真瑚; born December 31, 2002) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2018 Skate Canada silver medalist and a two-time medalist at the ISU Challenger Series. On the junior level, she is the 2018 World Junior bronze medalist, a four-time medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, and the 2017–18 Japanese junior national silver medalist.^[4]

Yamashita was born on 31 December 2002 in Nagoya, Japan.^[5]

She currently studies at Chukyo University's School of Sports Science.^[6][7]

Yamashita began learning how to skate in 2009 at the age of seven. That same year, she joined the Grand Prix Tokai Club, where Machiko Yamada became her coach.^[5][7]

On the novice level, she won the bronze medal at the 2013–14 Japan Novice B Championships and silver at the 2015–16 Japan Novice A Championships.^[8]

Making her junior international debut on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, Yamashita won the bronze medal at the 2016 JGP Japan and 2016 JGP Estonia.^[8]

She subsequently finished sixteenth at the 2016–17 Japan Junior Championships.^[8]

Yamashita started the season by finishing fourth on the junior level at the 2017 Asian Open Trophy. In September, she won the bronze medal at 2017 JGP Austria behind Anastasia Tarakanova and Lim Eun-soo. Yamashita then won the silver medal at her next JGP event, 2017 JGP Croatia, behind Sofia Samodurova.^[8]

She subsequently won the silver medal at the 2017–18 Japan Junior Championships and placed tenth at the 2017–18 Japan Championships. In March, Yamashita won the bronze medal at the 2018 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.^[8]

In August 2018, Yamashita made her senior international debut, winning the bronze medal at the 2018 CS Asian Trophy, behind Lim Eun-soo and Yuna Shiraiwa. In September, she also won the bronze medal at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy, behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Sofia Samodurova.^[8]

In October, Yamashita debuted on the ISU Grand Prix series in the 2018–19 season. She won the silver medal at 2018 Skate Canada behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and ahead of Evgenia Medvedeva, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist. She then competed at 2018 Rostelecom Cup, where she placed seventh.^[8]

Yamashita finished the season by placing sixth at the 2018–19 Japan Championships.^[8]

Yamashita began the season with a sixth place at the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial. She finished twelfth out of twelve skaters at the 2019 Skate America.^[9] Yamashita fared better at the 2019 NHK Trophy, where she placed fifth.^[10]

At the 2019–20 Japanese Championships, Yamashita was fifth in the short program but dropped to eleventh place overall after finishing sixteenth in the free skate.^[11]

Yamashita was invited to be a part of Team Red at the Japan Open after the withdrawal of Marin Honda.^[12] Competing domestically, she placed sixth at Western Sectionals.^[13]

With the COVID-19 pandemic prompting the ISU to assign the Grand Prix based primarily on geographic location to limit international travel, Yamashita was assigned to compete at the 2020 NHK Trophy as part of a field of Japanese skaters and South Korea's You Young. She placed third in the short program.^[14] In the free skate, Yamashita attempted a quad Salchow in international competition for the first time, landing it with a full downgrade, as well as making errors on two other jumps. She dropped to fifth place overall.^[15]

Yamashita placed thirteenth at the 2020–21 Japan Championships.^[16]

For a second consecutive year, Yamashita placed thirteenth at the 2021–22 Japan Championships.^[16]

Competing at the 2022–23 Japan Championships, Yamashita placed sixteenth.^[16]

At the 2023–24 Japan Championships, Yamashita unexpectedly placed second in the short program, albeit nearly nine points behind segment leader Kaori Sakamoto.^[6] She dropped to eighth overall after the free skate, but said that she felt her stamina in that segment was improving.^[17] She closed the season with a bronze medal at the 2024 Tallink Hotels Cup.^[16]

Yamashita started the season with a silver medal win at the 2024 Asian Open Trophy. She then went on to compete at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, where she finished in sixth place.^[16]

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Personal best highlighted in bold.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

• Mako Yamashita at the International Skating Union
• YAMASHITA Mako at the Japan Skating Federation
• Mako Yamashita on Instagram