Tomoki Hiwatashi
Tomoki Richard Hiwatashi is an American figure skater. He is the 2018 CS Inge Solar Memorial – Alpen Trophy bronze medalist and a two-time U.S. national medalist.
On the junior level, he is the 2019 World Junior champion, the 2016 World Junior bronze medalist, a five-time medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, and the 2016 U.S. junior national champion.
Personal life
Hiwatashi was born on January 20, 2000, in Englewood, New Jersey. His mother, Satomi, and father, Satoshi Hiwatashi, are both from Kobe, Japan. He was raised with two sisters. For much of his early life, he lived in the Chicago suburb Hoffman Estates. He currently trains and resides for the bulk of his time in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Career
Early career
Hiwatashi began skating at the age of five after a rink opened near his house. He competed on the juvenile level during the 2008–2009 season, placing fourth at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships. Continuing as a juvenile in 2009–2010, he won the bronze medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals before finishing sixth at the 2010 U.S. Championships. During the 2010–2011 season, he won the juvenile gold medal at both the Upper Great Lakes Regionals and the 2011 U.S. Championships.In 2011–2012, Hiwatashi moved up to the intermediate level, winning the gold medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals and the 2012 U.S. Championships. He advanced to the novice level in 2012–13, winning the gold medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regionals, the Midwestern Sectionals, and the 2013 U.S. Championships.
Coached by Alexandre Fadeev in Wilmette, Illinois, Hiwatashi was scheduled to make his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in Mexico in early September 2013 but sustained a medial malleolus fracture in his left foot during an official practice at the competition. As a result, he missed the rest of the 2013–2014 season.
2014–2015 season
Hiwatashi competed on the junior level during the 2014–2015 season. He won the bronze medal at the Midwestern Sectionals and placed fifth at the 2015 U.S. Championships. He ended his season with the junior gold medal at the International Challenge Cup.2015–2016 season
In 2015–2016, Hiwatashi debuted on the JGP series, placing fifth in Colorado Springs, Colorado before winning the bronze medal in Zagreb, Croatia. He won the junior silver medal at the Midwestern Sectionals, finishing second to Alexei Krasnozhon, and went on to become the junior national champion, outscoring Kevin Shum by 14.78 points for gold at the 2016 U.S. Championships. Later that month, he was selected to replace the injured Nathan Chen at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.In March at the World Junior Championships, he placed sixth in the short program and third in the free skate to win the bronze medal behind Daniel Samohin of Israel and Nicolas Nadeau of Canada. He was coached by Alexander Ouriashev in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
2016–2017 season
Hiwatashi started his season at 2016 JGP Saint-Gervais, where he placed sixth. He competed at the 2016 CS Warsaw Cup, placing ninth, and finished fifteenth at the 2017 U.S. Championships on the senior level. During the season, he was coached by Kori Ade in Monument, Colorado.2017–2018 season
Hiwatashi won two bronze medals on the 2017 JGP circuit, at 2017 JGP Riga and 2017 JGP Egna. At the 2018 U.S. Championships, he placed fifteenth in the short program, seventh in the free skate, and twelfth overall. He finished seventh at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. By the end of the season, he was training under Christine Krall and Damon Allen in Colorado.2018–2019 season
In September 2018, Hiwatashi won the silver medal at the 2018 JGP Canada, behind Petr Gumennik. At his second event, the 2018 JGP Slovenia, he won another silver medal. These results qualified Hiwatashi to the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final in Vancouver,Canada. He next competed on the senior level at the 2018 CS Alpen Trophy, where he won the bronze medal. Concluding the fall season at the Junior Grand Prix Final, he placed sixth overall after struggling in both programs.At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hiwatashi won the Pewter medal.
Due to US national champion Nathan Chen's schedule conflicting with the 2019 Four Continents Championships, Hiwatashi made his senior ISU Championship debut after being named to the Four Continents team with Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown. He set a new personal best score and placed eighth, calling his free skate "the greatest program I’ve ever done in my life."
In his final event of the season, Hiwatashi competed at the 2019 World Junior Championships alongside countrymen Alexei Krasnozhon and Camden Pulkinen. He placed second in the short program, briefly holding the junior world record until it was reclaimed minutes later by Pulkinen. In the free skate, he placed second behind Russian competitor Roman Savosin after cleanly landing a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination but popping a second planned quadruple toe loop to a double toe loop. However, his strong placement from the short program combined with his performance in the free skate allowed him to claim victory overall, and he became the World Junior Champion, ahead of Savosin and bronze medalist Daniel Grassl of Italy.
2019–2020 season
Hiwatashi began his first full senior season with a fifth-place finish at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. Making this debut on the senior Grand Prix at the 2019 Internationaux de France, Hiwatashi placed tenth in the short program after multiple jump errors but rose to fifth place overall in the free skate.Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Hiwatashi placed fifth in the short program with a clean skate. Third in the free skate, he won the bronze medal, standing on the senior national podium for the second time. Despite placing third, he was not chosen for one of America's three berths at the 2020 World Championships, the third spot going to reigning World bronze medalist Vincent Zhou, who finished slightly under three points behind Hiwatashi in fourth. Hiwatashi was instead assigned to compete at the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul. He placed ninth at Four Continents.
Skating technique
Unlike most skaters, Hiwatashi jumps and spins clockwise. He also has the ability to perform the Biellmann spin, an element rarely performed by men due to the flexibility it requires.Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2019–2020 |
choreo. by Mark Pillay |
choreo. by Tom Dickson | |
| 2018–2019 | by Arthur Hamilton performed by Michael Bublé choreo. by Mark Pillay | by Steven Reineke choreo. by Ben Agosto | |
| 2017–2018 |
choreo. by Rohene Ward | by Trevor Jones choreo. by Rohene Ward | |
| 2016–2017 |
choreo. by Marina Zueva | by Nino Rota choreo. by Marina Zueva | |
| 2015–2016 | by James Brown choreo. by Olga Ganicheva | Charlie Chaplin medley
by Charlie Chaplin
choreo. by Olga Ganicheva | by Jerry Lee Lewis |
| 2013–2015 | by The Dave Brubeck Quartet choreo. by Alexandre Fadeev | by Gioachino Rossini choreo. by Alexandre Fadeev | |
| 2012–2013 | by Ervin T. Rouse choreo. by Alexandre Fadeev | by Johann Strauss II choreo. by Alexandre Fadeev |