Shoma Uno ponders next moves 

The PyeongChang 2018 figure skating silver medallist has announced he will be competing without a main coach this season

3 minBy Sven Busch
Shoma Uno

Shoma Uno wants to make it on his own.

The PyeongChang 2018 figure skating silver medallist has revealed that he will be competing this season without a main coach after returning from a one-month training camp in Novogorsk, Russia with renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze.

The 21-year-old Japanese did not give an exact reason for his decision against signing up full-time with Tutberidze.

"Eteri was kind in tough circumstances," Uno said at a national team training camp at Chukyo University.

"It was a very good experience. There was little time to practice in the environment and little time to fit in."

The two-time world silver medallist, who split with his long-time coaches Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi earlier this year**,** added he will be working with Takeshi Honda as his jump coach.

He will also get some input from Swiss two-time world champion and 2006 Olympic silver medallist Stephane Lambiel.

The two are scheduled to work together in Switzerland in September.

Timing is everything

"It is time to start something new," Uno posted on his official website after leaving Yamada and Higuchi at the beginning of June. He had worked with them since he was five years old.

Now it is time for the next step.

As he is entering unchartered territory the three-time national champ has decided to keep his training base in Japan.

Uno intends to practice in Chukyo in the Aichi Prefecture - with the exception of his planned stint in Europe with Lambiel.

Uno is not the first world class skater who is forging ahead without a coach. World champions Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan and Patrick Chan have all tried it during their career.

Shoma UNO

Japan
Figure Skating
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Grand Prix assignments

Uno failed to make the podium at last season's World Championships in Saitama, Japan, finishing fourth.

He will start his Grand Prix campaign in Grenoble at the Internationaux de France (November 1-3) before skating at the Russian GP in Moscow (November 15-17).

And there is more.

Uno was the first skater to successfully land a quadruple flip in international competition.

No quintuple jump has ever been attempted in a competition before. The feat would involve a figure skater completing five full rotations in the air and landing successfully.

Uno previously told Olympic Channel that a quint "requires a high level of technique and you might get injured."

"It's uncharted territory for us as there is no-one that ever landed it before. But if someone hit a quintuple then many skaters would follow." - Shoma Uno to Olympic Channel

You can watch Uno talking about quintuple jumps here:

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