Was Yukari Nakano's retirement to early?

After I recently rewatched some of Yukari Nakano's amazing performances, I can't help but wonder if her retirement was to early. Especially when I think about all the success Akiko and Carolina have had so late in their career, so i can't help wonder if Yukari was potentially a late bloomer too, or if the field in Japan simply would have been too deep for her to have a real breakthrough?

Hmm, I don't think so: her technique in lutz/flip caused her to receive low GOEs and she often had UR jumps, but I really liked her style and I have always been sad because she didn't have the chance to compete at the Olympics; but I think that, at 25, after a good season in which she did all she could to get into the Olympic team, it was her time to retire. She had already had the skate of her life in 2008 (at Worlds, I obviously mean), and I don't think that she could have earned better results in 2010/2011 or 2011/2012...

I know she had her share of issues, but compared to many skater problems, i consider yukari's issues to be minor, or at least minor compared to all the things there is to admire in her skating, like speed, great basic skating, good spins, great presentation.... and when looking back at 2011 and 2012 season I can't help but wonder what and how she would have placed if she had chosen to continue competitive skating. if Leonora could win a world silver medal, and if Kira could win a GP event, I don't see why Yukari also wouldn't have been able to achieve great results too!

I was sad when Yukari retired, because at the time she was my second favorite ladies skater after Mao. Her personality on the ice was so lovely, but it's too bad about the leg wrap on some of her jumps.

If I remember correctly, Yukari had quite a bad injury at the time. I assume she decided to retire because she may have had to take some time off from competing anyway because of it.

Besides that, considering her age, I think she made her choice to leave the figure skating world altogether, get employed at Fuji tv and pursue a new career there. She could've gone into being a show skater, but she probabaly wasn't so interested in that. I think she was always a fighter who enjoyed competing but not the type of skater who wanted to be in ice-shows in the future.

I liked her alot too, but she graduated a high level university (Waseda which Yuzu will be going to), and was in a sense, too intelligent not to go on just skating. When you graduate a university like the one she did, you'd have various opportunities in areas outside the skating world. Yukari is a smart person, I'm sure she made the right choice on her own. As much as she had passion for skating, she was mature enough to figure out that skating wasn't the only thing that matters in her life.

I'm do feel it a shame she had to retire at a fairly early age...but in Jpn, if you don't get properly employed and achieve some experience in working while you're in your 20s, esp if you're female, it'll become very tough to find a job later on. Yukari was clever enough to notice that.

ballerinamao wrote:

I know she had her share of issues, but compared to many skater problems, i consider yukari's issues to be minor, or at least minor compared to all the things there is to admire in her skating, like speed, great basic skating, good spins, great presentation.... and when looking back at 2011 and 2012 season I can't help but wonder what and how she would have placed if she had chosen to continue competitive skating. if Leonora could win a world silver medal, and if Kira could win a GP event, I don't see why Yukari also wouldn't have been able to achieve great results too!

The problem with Yukari was her leg wrap when jumping (it wasn't very nice to look at) and like others have stated she had a lot of UR's as well. Personally,I think she was the most underrated skater, even more than Suzuki and I still maintain that 2008 worlds was a major rip off, I'm still pissed about it. The only skater who was placed correctly was Mao and even she was almost screwed up. Yukari, IMO deserved bronze there.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Besides that, considering her age, I think she made her choice to leave the figure skating world altogether, get employed at Fuji tv and pursue a new career there. She could've gone into being a show skater, but she probabaly wasn't so interested in that. I think she was always a fighter who enjoyed competing but not the type of skater who wanted to be in ice-shows in the future.

Not to mention, the judges didn't like her very much...

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

I'm do feel it a shame she had to retire at a fairly early age...but in Jpn, if you don't get properly employed and achieve some experience in working while you're in your 20s, esp if you're female, it'll become very tough to find a job later on. Yukari was clever enough to notice that.

Even if you're successful athlete? I'd imagine it's very hard to work and train at high level at the same time. This makes me think about Fumie, does she work anywhere?

zarinaballerina wrote:

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

I'm do feel it a shame she had to retire at a fairly early age...but in Jpn, if you don't get properly employed and achieve some experience in working while you're in your 20s, esp if you're female, it'll become very tough to find a job later on. Yukari was clever enough to notice that.

Even if you're successful athlete? I'd imagine it's very hard to work and train at high level at the same time. This makes me think about Fumie, does she work anywhere?

I guess it depends more on how popular you were as an athlete...being fairly successful may not add up to much. It's been very difficult for university grads to get employed in large firms for the past decades here, so getting a job in Fuji tv is something other than her skating which Yukari should be proud of.

And yes, Fumie is supposed to be working for an management company for athletes and showbiz people now. It's no large firm like Fuji tv, and it seems she had a hard time finding a company which would take her in. But I think that the other firms which decided not to employ Fumie can't be blamed for their decisions...Fumie had lived up to her late 20 without working at all. While she was at her peak, I think some major pop music company was sponsering her, but they withdrew later on. Usually, when a skater in Jpn starts going down hill and people around her starts thinking it's best she/he retires, I think they are offered a positiion as an employee from their sponsering firms. But Fumie decided to go on competing till Sochi Olys, somehow managed to find a minor pharmaceutical company as her new sponser, but they're not as rich as her former sponser, so she had no choice but to work for money in order to go on skating. And the company which decided to give her a chance, told her that she will not be treated in any special way from the other employees, plus since she had no working experience, she had to start from the very bottom of the company piramid.

I think Fumie's case was more than enough to prove Yukari made the right choice at the right time...I admire Fumie's guts, but she'll never make Sochi anyway, and I'm wondering if that pharmaceutical company is really still sponsering her after her not even making Nats this season. I feel very uncomfortable about how things turned out for Fumie...she's not good at speaking in public so she'll never be a commentator, I just can't picture her coaching other skaters, and the biggest mystery to me is why she doesn't appear in ice shows anymore. I suppose her working in that management company is making it difficult for her to be in shows, and since she had been bashed harshly on some matters in the past 3 years or so, maybe she doesn't get offers for shows anymore. I personally think that after she retires, she may have some talent in choreo though. She's skated to alot of unique pros in the past, and she used to be quite an entertainer on the ice; sadly not my cup of tea, but she did have and still has fans.

Yukari Nakano had quite a bad shoulder injury - she was constantly dislocating it, even in the middle of programs. At some point, your body is your body for life and you need to take care of it. I'm glad she retired and decided to do just that.

After hearing all all the different perspective and opinion's to why Yukari chose to retire at that time, her decision really makes sense and may have been the best choice, but in a way I think i will always wonder how her career would have turned out had she continued, after all she had all the necessary skills and qualities to have a breakthrough like Akiko had last year.

and I agree zarinnabalerinna, Nakano really was underrated , I always felt like people made a too big deal about her leg-wrap, and it therefore prevented them from enjoying all the other sides of her skating.
But I'm happy to hear that she is having a successful career, I almost couldn't recognize her when she interviewed Mao at Nationals, she certainly looked happy and satisfied.

ballerinamao wrote:

After hearing all all the different perspective and opinion's to why Yukari chose to retire at that time, her decision really makes sense and may have been the best choice, but in a way I think i will always wonder how her career would have turned out had she continued, after all she had all the necessary skills and qualities to have a breakthrough like Akiko had last year.

and I agree zarinnabalerinna, Nakano really was underrated , I always felt like people made a too big deal about her leg-wrap, and it therefore prevented them from enjoying all the other sides of her skating.
But I'm happy to hear that she is having a successful career, I almost couldn't recognize her when she interviewed Mao at Nationals, she certainly looked happy and satisfied.

Yes, like her wonderful spins or her good triple axel, or the good ss; I always felt that she deserved higher PCS...

Yukari appeared in Mikis Instagram recently! The time Miki had this regional competiton, can you translate what she wrote? There are some more photos!
I was very happy to see Yukari after a long time  

http://instagram.com/p/fZumh-F_D5/

Haidogirl wrote:

Yukari appeared in Mikis Instagram recently! The time Miki had this regional competiton, can you translate what she wrote? There are some more photos!
I was very happy to see Yukari after a long time  

http://instagram.com/p/fZumh-F_D5/

Lovely girls. Yukari is working as a reporter for Fuji. She interviewed Mao right after her FS at 4CC or NHK last year, I think.

pearlyriver wrote:

Haidogirl wrote:

Yukari appeared in Mikis Instagram recently! The time Miki had this regional competiton, can you translate what she wrote? There are some more photos!
I was very happy to see Yukari after a long time  

http://instagram.com/p/fZumh-F_D5/

Lovely girls. Yukari is working as a reporter for Fuji. She interviewed Mao right after her FS at 4CC or NHK last year, I think.

Then she was at the Regionals to interview Miki?