Rio Nakata

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Rio Nakata (中田璃士) is a Welsh–Japanese figure skater who represents Japan. He was born on September 8, 2008 in Cardiff, Wales, and grew up in Japan, living in Chiba. His father, Makoto Nakata, coaches part of his team, and his mother is Hollie Mason. He has two younger brothers, Louis and Joshua (who also skates). Nakata is bilingual, speaking English at home and Japanese in daily life. He looks up to Shoma Uno.

Big achievements
- 2025 World Junior Champion
- 2024 World Junior silver medalist
- 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final champion
- 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist
- Five-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist
- Two-time Japanese Junior national champion (2024–25)
- 2023–24 Japanese Junior national silver medalist

Career highlights
- Began skating in 2011 at age 3. His father has been a coach on his team since the start.
- Early on, he showed promise on the junior circuit, winning medals at national events and making his mark in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series.
- In 2023–24, he won gold at the JGP Thailand and silver at JGP Turkey, earning a spot in the JGP Final in Beijing where he won gold after a strong free skate.
- He finished 5th at the 2024 Youth Olympics in Gangwon and 5th at the 2024 World Junior Championships.
- For the 2023–24 season, his free program was set to Pirates of the Caribbean as a tribute to his father.
- In 2024–25, he won silver at JGP Thailand and gold at JGP China, then bronze at the JGP Final in Grenoble. He won two skates at the 2024–25 Japan Junior Championships (gold) and silver at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, earning a spot on the World Junior team.
- At the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, he won gold, scoring well in the free skate and taking the overall title.
- He was invited to skate in the gala at the 2025 World Team Trophy as the World Junior champion.
- He started the 2025–26 season strong on the Junior Grand Prix, winning gold at JGP Latvia and JGP Thailand. He later won the silver at the 2025–26 JGP Final in Nagoya and finished fourth at the 2025–26 Japan Championships (senior level).

Setbacks and recovery
- In late 2025, Nakata suffered a stress fracture in his left leg, which limited his training for about a month. He returned to competition in late November.

This is a concise look at a young skater who has quickly become a standout in the junior ranks and is continuing to compete at high levels for Japan.