Ami Nakai

Nakai was born on April 27, 2008 in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. She is currently a student at Ichikawa Municipal Junior High School in Ichikawa, Chiba.

Nakai began figure skating in 2013. She originally practiced rhythmic gymnastics but ultimately switched to figure skating after being inspired by watching Mao Asada perform on TV when she was five years old. Nakai originally trained at the Ibis SC in Niigata under coaches, Kousuke Watabe and Izumi Watabe. While there, Nakai got to meet Asada when she used Nakai's training rink to practice for an ice show in Niigata. Asada also gave Nakai a private skating lesson.

Nakai would start practicing and landing triple axels in her fifth year of elementary school.

On the basic novice level, Nakai finished fourteenth at the 2017–18 Japan Novice Championships and would go on to win gold at the 2018–19 Japan Novice Championships. Due to the latter result, Nakai was invited to skate in the gala at the 2019 World Team Trophy.{{cite web |title=大会概要 |url=https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/figure-wtt2019/outline/ |website=Aashi TV |access-date=13 October 2024}}

As an advanced novice skater, Nakai finished fifth at the 2019–20 Japan Novice Championships. The following year, she won bronze at the 2020–21 Japan Novice Championships and with this result, was invited to compete at the 2020–21 Japan Junior Championships where she placed sixth.

In spring 2021, Nakai moved with her mother from her hometown of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture to Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture so that Nakai could train at the MF Figure Skating Academy, while her father remained in Niigata due to his work. Kensuke Nakaniwa, Makoto Nakata, Momoe Nagumo, Aya Tanoue, and Akane Seo became Nakai's new coaching team.

Nakai placed seventh at the 2021–22 Japan Junior National Championships but was invited to compete at the 2021–22 Japan Senior National Championships because the junior champion Mao Shimada was still a novice skater. She popped her planned triple Axel in the short program and struggled on the landing of the triple Lutz, finishing in twenty-seventh and not advancing to the final.

Nakai was sent to 2022 Coupe du Printemps to compete at the junior category. She won and became the twentieth woman to land a triple Axel in international competition.

In September 2022, Nakai debuted on the Junior Grand Prix circuit at the 2022 JGP Latvia in Riga. She landed all her jumps cleanly in her short program and placed third with 63.87 points. Nakai attempted a triple Axel but was marked as under-rotated during the free skate. She popped two jumps and finished third overall. At the second of two Polish Junior Grand Prixes held in Gdańsk, she won the gold medal and qualified to the 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final. Nakai landed a clean triple Axel in the free skate and said afterward that she hoped to do two in the free skate at the Final.

Fourth in the short program at the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships, Nakai landed a triple Axel in the free skate and made only one jumping error, a fall on her triple loop. She placed third in that segment, moving up to take the bronze medal.Two weeks later, at the Junior Grand Prix Final, Nakai finished in fourth place, 1.16 points behind bronze medalist Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea. Despite narrowly missing the podium, she described the Final as "a dream stage."

Nakai appeared at her second senior Japan Championships, finishing eighth in the short program. She finished fourth in the free skate, successfully landing two triple Axel jumps, and rising to fourth place overall. She said she was "happy to have challenged two Axels on this big stage, and landed them both! It's the first time I have been able to land both in the same program." Nakai was assigned to Japan's second berth at the 2023 World Junior Championships, alongside Shimada.

Competing at the World Junior Championships in Calgary, Nakai was third in the short program with a clean skate. With a score of 67.28, she finished 3.96 points back of second-place Shin Ji-a of South Korea, and 3.31 points ahead of Kim Yu-jae in fourth. Nakai fell on her triple Axel attempt at the beginning of the free skate, but delivered the rest of the program cleanly, finishing third in that segment as well and winning the bronze medal.

Nakai began the season by competing on the Junior Grand Prix at the 2023 JGP Thailand, skating a clean short program to lead the segment. In the free skate she doubled her planned triple Axel and as a result performed too many double Axels in the segment, in violation of the Zayak rule, but still finished first in that segment as well and won the gold medal. She secured another gold medal at the 2023 JGP Turkey in Istanbul, despite struggling with jump combinations in the free skate, which she said left her "a little bit disappointed," but adding she was "happy to be in first place." Her results qualified her for her second Junior Grand Prix Final.

Dealing with a back injury with painkiller and injections, Nakai withdrew from the domestic sectionals competition in early November. Despite this, she was considered a podium contender heading into the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships. After falling and failing to executive a jump combination in the short program, she finished fourteenth in that segment. She was tenth in the free skate, and rose to tenth overall, as a result missing qualification for both the senior national championships and the Japanese team for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

Nakai next appeared at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Beijing, placing fourth in the short program. In the free skate she fell on her triple Axel, but landed six other triple jumps. She was fifth in that segment, and came fifth overall. Nakai explained that she "thought it would be the last competition of the season, so a part of me was nervous."

File:Ami Nakai during practice at the 2024-25 Grand Prix Final.jpg]]

Over the course of the off-season, Nakai grew over five centimeters in height. She traveled to Toronto, Canada for a training camp at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club during the summer. While there, Nakai worked with coaches, Brian Orser, Karen Preston, and Jeff Dionisio. She also began practicing and landing quadruple toe loops for the first time.

Nakai opened the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Junior Grand Prix, winning silver at 2024 JGP Turkey. At the 2024 JGP China, she won the gold medal, notably landing two triple Axels in her free skate although they were deemed as slightly underrotated. With these results, Nakai qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final for a third consecutive time. 

File:Ami Nakai following her short program at the 2024–25 Grand Prix Final.jpg]]

In late November, Nakai competed at the 2024–25 Japan Junior Championships, where she finished fourth. Weeks later, Nakai competed at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. She placed third in the short program, and fourth in the free skate, taking and third overall, winning her first JGP Final medal, and rounding out a Japanese sweep in the junior women's event alongside Kaoruko Wada and Mao Shimada. Following the event, she said, "This is my first medal at the JGP final and I am very, very happy to have achieved that also together with my teammates." Two weeks later, Nakai competed at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, where she finished fifteenth. She was subsequently named to the World Junior team.

Nakai placed third in the short program at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, winning a bronze small medal, despite a "shaky" double Axel landing. She struggled in the free skate, including errors on both triple Axel attempts, as a result coming sixth in that segment and dropping to fourth overall. She finished 2.82 points behind American bronze medalist Elyce Lin-Gracey.

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

{{Figure skating personal bests

|ref={{r|SS-AN}}

|205.90|2022 JGP Poland II

|69.00|2022 JGP Poland II

|39.26|2022 JGP Poland II

|30.40|2024–25 JGP Final

|136.90|2022 JGP Poland II

|76.85|2022 JGP Poland II

|62.94|2024 JGP China

}}

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00111516.htm |title= Competition Results: Ami NAKAI |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230304150406/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00111516.htm |archive-date= March 4, 2023 |url-status= live }}

{{cite web |url= https://skatingscores.com/jpn/women/ami_nakai/|title= JPN-Ami NAKAI |publisher= SkatingScores}}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |title= Ami NAKAI: 2021/2022 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220519022714/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |archive-date= May 19, 2022 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |title=Ami NAKAI: 2022/2023 |publisher= International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230303023710/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |archive-date= March 3, 2023 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite web |title=Ami NAKAI: 2023/2024 |url=http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |website=International Skating Union |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230911092116/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111516.htm |archive-date= September 11, 2023 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite tweet|number=1462643221993910272|user=online_on_ice|title=全日本ジュニア男女6名が全日本への推薦出場を決めました|trans-title=All Japan Junior six men and women selected for All Japan announced|lang=ja|author=[Official] Fuji TV Skating|date=November 21, 2021}}

{{cite web|url= https://twitter.com/max_ambesi/status/1320345904868622338|title= Since Mao Asada, Ami Nakai is the second skater to attempt but the first to rotate a triple axel in the final of the Japanese novice National Championships.|publisher= @max_ambesi on Twitter}}

{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3o645Wu7NI|title= Ami NAKAI. Ex|publisher= md1tv on YouTube|date= April 14, 2019}}

{{cite web|url= https://www.fujitv.co.jp/sports/skate/figure/skater/AmiNAKAI.html|title= Ami Nakai Profile|publisher= Fuji TV}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202207300000750.html|title=Ami Nakai "Star of Milan" Lands Stable Quadruple Toe Loop and Lutz in practice|publisher= Nikkan Sports}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/jgplat2022/FSKWSINGLES-JUNIOR----QUAL000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf|title=JGP Riga 2022 Judges Details Per Skater, Women's Short Program|publisher=International Skating Union}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/jgplat2022/FSKWSINGLES-JUNIOR----FNL-000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf|title=JGP Riga 2022 Judges Details Per Skater, Women's Free Skate|publisher=International Skating Union}}

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{{cite web|url=https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/news-fsk/14233-more-skaters-secure-spots-for-the-isu-junior-grand-prix-of-figure-skating-final?templateParam=15|title=More Skaters secure spots for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final|publisher=International Skating Union|date=October 10, 2022}}

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{{cite web|url= https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/news-fsk/14670-ami-nakai-jpn-and-rio-nakata-jpn-secure-junior-grand-prix-final-spot-in-istanbul-tur?templateParam=15 |title= Ami Nakai (JPN) and Rio Nakata (JPN) secure Junior Grand Prix Final spot in Istanbul (TUR) |date=September 11, 2023|publisher=International Skating Union |access-date=September 11, 2023}}

{{cite web |title=【フィギュア】中井亜美号泣 ジャンプ転倒響きSP55・06「不安が演技に…」全日本ジュニア |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202311180001616.html |website=Nikkan Sports |date=November 18, 2023 |access-date=November 19, 2023}}

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{{cite web |title=2024木下トロフィー争奪フィギュアスケート大会 (8/3～4) |url=https://www.fujitv.co.jp/sports/skate/news/doc/skaters-data_FOD_240803-04.pdf |website=Fuji TV |access-date=26 August 2024}}

{{cite web |title=中井亜美、トリプルアクセル２本で復活のシーズンへ、トロントで得た4回転への自信 |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/698e59c4fbfe908384bf939d057824bce0f538b6 |website=Yahoo! Japan |access-date=13 October 2024}}

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{{cite web|title=Mao Shimada Wins Junior Grand Prix Final for 3rd Consecutive Year |url= https://japan-forward.com/mao-shimada-wins-junior-grand-prix-final-for-3rd-consecutive-year/ |last1=Gallagher |first1=Jack |website=Japan Forward |date=December 7, 2024 |access-date=March 1, 2025 }}

{{cite web|url=https://isu-skating.com/figure-skating/news/spectacular-mao-shimada-jpn-defies-gravity-for-strong-lead-at-isu-world-junior-championships/|title=Spectacular Mao Shimada (JPN) defies gravity for strong lead at ISU World Junior Championships|date=February 27, 2025|access-date=March 1, 2025|publisher=International Skating Union}}

{{cite web|url=https://isu-skating.com/figure-skating/news/incredible-mao-shimada-jpn-flies-high-to-historic-third-isu-world-junior-championship-title/|title=Incredible Mao Shimada (JPN) flies high to historic third ISU World Junior Championship title|date=March 1, 2025|access-date=March 1, 2025|publisher=International Skating Union}}

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• {{isu name|id=00111516|name=Ami NAKAI}}
• [https://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/figure/player/detail.php?id=Ma%2BLWwcyOwQ%3D NAKAI Ami] at Japan Skating Federation
• [https://skatingscores.com/jpn/women/ami_nakai/ Ami Nakai] at SkatingScores.com

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Ami}}

Category:Japanese female single skaters

Category:Living people

Category:2008 births

Category:Sportspeople from Niigata Prefecture

Category:21st-century Japanese sportswomen

Category:World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists