Yukina Ota Announces Retirement

http://iceblue.cocolog-nifty.com/figure/

The article is in Japanese. Yukina will be retiring, and she would continue with her college studies at Doshisha University, and hopes to still skate in shows when she has the opportunity.

It looks like she was struggling to maintain competitive even after her brief comeback, and that she planned to retire after this season. She wanted to take care of her body and leave the competitive scene with no regrets, though, so she chose to announce her retirement on the 26th instead.

I've loved Yukina ever since her Picasso Dance SP, and it's a pity and a loss that she was never able to really get back into her top form ever since that nagging injury. That said, she has retired on her terms, and I hope she has a good future ahead of her as a show skater and in her other pursuits as well.

She will be missed in the figure skating world. I loved many of Yukina's programs; Poeta, Picasso's Dance, Twilight Waltz and Swan Lake. Even without jumps, she was a treat to watch.

I hope she'll succeeds in any field she chooses to pursue!

mixed emotions...