Midori Ito
Midori Ito (Japanese伊藤 みどり, Midori Ito, born August 13, 1969 in Nagoya ) is a former Japanese figure skater who started in a single run. It is the world champion of 1989.
Career
Itō began skating at age five and was her first triple jump at the age of eight years. When she was ten years old, her parents divorced and she moved in with her coach Machiko Yamada.
Even at the Junior World Championships, where she took part in the years 1981, 1982 and 1984, their huge leap talent showed. You always won the freestyle, placed himself at the compulsory figures, but ever so bad that it was only enough for the bronze medal in their last Junior World Championships 1984 at the end. This year, she also denied their first world championship in the seniors and finished seventh. There, too, their problem was visible in the duty she had only the 16th -ranked, in the short program and free skating but fourth place.
In 1985, she won her first of eight consecutive and nine national championship titles. Because of an ankle fracture, however, they could not participate in the World Cup this year. At the World Cup 1986, it was Eleventh, Eighth 1987 and 1988 Sixth. In its first Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988 they reached the fifth place, where they showed the third best freestyle. They ended up taking seven triple jumps, as many as any runner in front of her. During the year, she coached the triple axel, where she had worked since his early youth. At the World Championships in Paris in 1989 she managed the triple Axel was the first woman at World Figure Skating Championships. She got twice the maximum score 6.0 for her short program and free skating at five times for the technical components. So she became the first world champion in figure skating that did not come from Europe or North America. It was the first medal for Japan in the women's competition since Emi Watanabe bronze medal ten years earlier.
In the 1990 World Cup she made a mistake in the compulsory figures and placed in this segment only in tenth. Their victories in the short program and free skating you no longer helped compensate. She won the silver medal behind the USA's Jill Trenary. After this season, the duty was abolished and so it was assumed that Itō would now dominate the Ladies competition will. However, in the 1991 World Series they had bad luck twice: First, they came together to arrive at a competitor, then they ended up with a jump combination in the short program beyond the band in a TV camera. In the end they had to settle for fourth place.
Ito went as a favorite in the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. After a not error-free short program, after which she was on the fourth place, they needed a strong Kürleistung to still win a medal. However, their freestyle started very badly, as she could not manage the triple Axel. In order to have a chance they had to make the leap to try again at the end of the free program and did so with success. She was the first figure skater who was a triple axel at the Olympics. In the end, it was enough for the silver medal behind Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States. It was the first Olympic medal in figure skating for an athlete who did not come from Europe or North America.
After that, she became a professional runner and ran into some ice shows in Japan. For the 1995/96 season, she returned to the amateurs, but was unable to repeat their successes. When Japanese champion was seventh at the World Championships.
At the peak of her career Itō was a very sporty runner whose Küren almost the same technical content as had the Küren in the men. In addition to the first successfully landed triple axel, she was a few years before the first woman landed a triple - triple combination in competition. Ito's powerful running style was not always appreciated by the judges. Later, she tried to take a more feminine style of running, she felt it but obviously not well and seemed much of their natural joy of skating, they excelled so far to have lost. Very long Itō had to contend with the abolished after the 1990 season duty, as well as to the attention of the Japanese Press after winning the world title.
At the opening ceremony for the 1998 Winter Olympics Itō was honored to be able to light the Olympic flame in the stadium.
Since 2011, Ito again takes part in competitions and started on three occasions at the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition. In 2011 she was in Masters Elite Ladies II Second, 2012 in Masters Ladies II Artistic First and 2013 in Masters (Elite) First Ladies II.