Meet Naoki Rossi: Swiss figure skating prodigy on speaking five languages, playing violin and being a perfectionist
In March, the 16-year-old skater claimed the silver medal at World Juniors and now looks to be part of a Swiss generation following in Stephane Lambiel’s footsteps.
Figure Skating
When Swiss figure skater Naoki Rossi was just five years old, he had so much energy bouncing around his house that his parents needed something to help him sleep at night.
The answer? Skating.
“My mum brought me to the ice so I could at least be a little tired, or wiped out” at bedtime, Rossi told Olympics.com early this year after winning bronze at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Italy. “I think she just wanted me to behave normally; sleep in silence,” he adds.
“I was already dancing since I was born.”
Now 16, the reigning world junior silver medallist has harnessed that energy to help make him one of the emerging young skaters in the sport. He aims to follow in the footsteps of his Swiss countryman, Stephane Lambiel, the 2006 Olympic silver medallist.
“Of course, I’m dreaming about the Olympics,” laughs Rossi, who had both of his programs this season choreographed by Lambiel. “It’s one of my goals for the future.”
Rossi has taken his expansive experience off of the ice to help make him a better skater on it: He loves K-pop and anime, but also plays the violin and enjoys horror films. And the Japanese-Italian-Swiss youngster speaks no fewer than five languages.
As he is learning a sixth.
Naoki Rossi: On learning languages; playing violin
Rossi grew up in Switzerland to a Japanese mother and Italian-Swiss father, though Japanese was the first language he learned.
“It was pretty hard for me to speak the native language [in Switzerland] since I was speaking with my dad in Italian, with my mum in Japanese, but in school in German,” Rossi remembers. “It was hard to manage and understand [everything].”
He’d also learn Swiss-German as well as English. He’s currently adding Korean to his language repertoire, and says the power of communication can be so powerful, especially in a global sport like skating.
“You can meet new people, make new friends” through language, he says. “Just by knowing one different language you can make a whole new community.”
Early interest in dance and violin gave way to skating, and two years ago he made the move to Bergamo, Italy, to train there, living alone in an apartment and focusing on his training.
His rise marks a noticeable uptick for Swiss skating as of late, with countryman Lucas Britschgi winning a bronze at NHK Trophy last month – a first on the Grand Prix in 16 years. Kimmy Repond, who is just 16, has emerged as a rising Swiss skater, as well. She was eighth at Worlds in 2023.
When the Youth Olympic Games were held at Lausanne 2020, Rossi was chosen to skate an exhibition program with Lambiel for the Games’ Opening Ceremony.
If it was a sign of anything to come, Rossi has much more to look forward to.
Rossi grows from perfectionism
“You want to show what you usually do in practice... but unfortunately it’s always difficult in competitions,” says Rossi about his tendency to be a perfectionist. “There’s always that thought, ‘I could have done this better.’ The negative thinking can [start then].”
The perfectionism can lead to nerves, shaky legs and stress for Rossi, but it’s something he said he and his team are working through. It also shows he’s passionate about his performance, which was showcased when he was brilliant in the free skate of World Juniors earlier this year, claiming the silver medal.
As his scores came through from the judges, Rossi clutched his face with his hands, overcome with emotion. His silver made him the first junior man from Switzerland to claim a world medal - ever.
He feels driven by the want to be so good, referring again to his perfectionism: “It’s not a bad thing. This is also the reason I can continue fighting,” he says. “If one competition didn't go well or the way I wanted [it to], there's always the next one; there's always the next day. It's not the end. I can always continue to skate and make better performances.”
He calls skaters like Hanyu Yuzuru, Nathan Chen and Uno Shoma his heroes, highlighting Hanyu’s performances, costumes and music to be “inspiring.”
It connects him back to that young boy who couldn’t sit still: Yes, skating helps him be tired at night, but his passion for the performance is what drives him to only get better.
“I really love the music and the passion, the transitions and [my] interpretation of the music,” he explains. “That's the reason why I started skating.”
If selected by the Swiss Olympic Committee, Rossi could be one of the athletes to look out for at the upcoming Gangwon 2024 Youth Winter Olympics.