Mao SHIMADA (JPN) | Exhibition Gala | Grand Prix Final 2025 | #GPFigure

Something has changed within me. Something has not. I'm through with four second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. Trying to trust my instincts. Close my eyes and leave me. Together we're better. Together we'll be the best team there's ever been. Well, she was always destined for great success. Named by her mother after Mao Asada, the three-time senior world champion from this nation. And Mao Asada, as a three-time junior world champion already, will move up to seniors next year to try to match that of her namesake, Asada. This skater gives you chills every time she takes to the ice. This program is so spectacular for many, many reasons. The crescendos and the emotion and the power and the speed and the consistency of her skating is extreme and a real joy to watch. Mao met with the cast of Wicked on the stage in Tokyo upon creation of this piece that she used so successfully. She won the junior women's event by 20 points.