Yuko Kavaguti

Juko Kawaguti (Russian Юко Кавагути Juko Kawaguti; jap川口 悠子, Yuko Kawaguchi; born November 20, 1981 in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Honshu ) is a Japanese figure skater, which was launched in pair skating for Japan and the U.S. and currently competes for Russia.

Biography

Kawaguti began in 1986 with the figure skating, first it started as a single skater for Japan. She was later pair skater and launched until 2003 with Alexander Markunzow for Japan, with whom she won at the Junior World Championships Silver 2001. After they had separated from Markunzow, she ran with Devin Patrick, and took part with him, among others, at the U.S. Championships.

Since 2002 she lives in Russia and studied international relations there.

Since the spring of 2006, she starts with Alexander Smirnov, representing Russia. The pair is coached by Tamara Moskvina. Start for the Jubilejní sports club or work out in Jubileiny Sports Complex in Saint Petersburg. Due to an injury Kawaguchi they missed both the Russian Championships, and the European Championships. At the World Cup in 2007 they finished ninth and were thus best Russian pair before the Russian masters of this year Marija Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov.

In the following season they finished at Skate Canada and Cup of Russia in third place and first took part in a Grand Prix Final, where they finished fifth. Kawaguchi and Smirnov in 2008 were the first to win the Russian Championships. At the European Championships they occupied after the short program still in fourth place, the front of them Ukrainians were in the freestyle but still overtake and won at the end of the bronze medal behind the defending champions Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy and their compatriots Mukhortova / Trankov to assist them in the Russian Championships were still beaten. At the World Cup they finished surprising fourth place.

At the beginning of the season 2008/ 09 they won Skate Canada and Cup of Russia occupied the behind Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao second place, where they won the freestyle against the Chinese duo. Shortly before the Russian Championships, which won the pair later, Kawaguchi received Russian citizenship, so that they were now allowed to start well in the Olympics, they also changed their name to Kawaguti. At the European Championships this season, they finished second in the World Cup and they won their first World Cup with a bronze medal.

At the European Championships 2010 in Tallinn Smirnov and Kawaguti were for the first time European champion, before the three-time European champions Savchenko / Szolkowy. Your first Olympics they finished a little later in Vancouver in fourth place. At the World Cup, they defended their bronze medal.

In the post-Olympic year they won the European Championship 2011 silver medal behind their strongest competitors Savchenko and Szolkowy. They successfully, the freestyle just to decide for themselves. At the World Championships in Moscow, it was enough for errors only to a disappointing fourth place. They had a backlog of nearly 25 points on their compatriots Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, which they had already failed at the Russian Championships.

Kawaguti and Smirnov started with wins at the NHK Trophy and the Cup of China in the season 2011 /12. At the Grand Prix Final, they won their first bronze medal at this competition. At the Russian Championships, she did not participate, so let Smirnov could heal a knee injury. However, on January 4, it had to be removed in an emergency operation the cecum and a hernia. For this reason Kawaguti and Smirnov could not participate in the European Championship. At the World Championships she occupied, mainly due to faulty and unsuccessful lifts, one seventh.

Results

Pair of running

( with Alexander Smirnov of Russia)

( with Devin Patrick for the U.S. and Japan)

( with Alexander Markunzow for Japan)

Z = Withdrawn

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