Grand Prix Final 2024: Japan's Chiba Mone aiming to paint a lasting impression
One of five Japanese women's singles skaters in Grenoble, France, this week, the 19-year-old hopes to continue her climb - all the way to Milano Cortina 2026.
Figure Skating
As a child growing up in Sendai, Chiba Mone used to skate at the same rink as a certain Hanyu Yuzuru.
From time to time, the GOAT of men’s figure skating, being the good big brother figure, would even play tag with the kids there, Chiba among them. It’s where she learned to love the sport.
Now, Chiba is about to set foot on another stage Hanyu used to own and won a joint record four times - the ISU Grand Prix Final.
“You can only debut once at a Grand Prix Final,” Chiba told reporters after qualifying for the 5-8 December competition in Grenoble, France. “I’m going all in.
“I’m working so hard in practise. It would be an absolute shame if I can’t show it in competition.”
Chiba Mone is set to make her Grand Prix Final debut in Grenoble, France, this week.
Chiba Mone - Continuing to impress
Chiba booked one of six spots at the 2024 Final after placing second at both the NHK Trophy and Cup of China.
She is one of five Japanese skaters who will be appearing in Grenoble, which is the largest women’s singles turnout from any one country at a GP Final.
“I thought there might be a few of us but I didn’t think there’d be five,” Chiba said. “But it’s exciting.”
The 19-year-old Chiba is only in her second senior campaign. A voracious reader, she belies her age with a maturity and composure beyond her years.
In 2023-24, she relocated to Kyoto to join the famed Kinoshita Academy to work under noted guru Hamada Mie, where fellow Grand Prix Finalist Yoshida Hana and Youth Olympic champion Shimada Mao also train.
Despite battling exercise-induced asthma during the first half of the season, Chiba was runner-up to three-time world champion and last year's GP Final winner Sakamoto Kaori at the Japanese nationals.
Off that, Chiba won her first major international title at the Four Continents with a personal best of 214.98. At the world championships, she failed to execute a couple of jumps in the short and free programs to end up seventh, but word clearly got out on Chiba.
Her success through the halfway point of 2024-25 should come as no surprise.
“There were a lot of good skaters and I wasn’t sure how I’d fare against them, but I did everything I could,” Chiba said upon returning home from the Cup of China with a shiny silver medal.
“(The GP Final) was one of my goals for the season and getting there has given me confidence.”
But none of it is going to her head. Chiba has thrown her hat into the ring for one of Japan’s three places at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics yet she is not getting ahead of herself.
And that groundedness could prove to be a point of difference with the nationals coming up - and the Olympic campaign after that.
“I still have a lot more I can improve on with my programs, bring out more from the music,” she said. “Technically I need to be more accurate like my free leg position for example - the finer points.
“When I look back on the season, I want to be happy with it. But to do that I need to pay attention to the details and keep working.
“It’s now only a year and a bit away (to Milano Cortina) and I just want to keep getting better.”