Nobunari Oda is a figure skating athlete competing in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 for Japan.
Career Highlights
2009 Japanese champion, 2005 junior world champion
2009-10 Music
Short Program: Totentanz performed by Maksim
Free Skate: selection of Charlie Chaplin music ("It's heartwarming. Very much like life. It's sad and fun," he says.)
Don't make the mistake of overlooking Nobunari Oda for a podium finish in Vancouver. Other skaters, including his own teammate, Daisuke Takahashi, often overshadow him but Oda is in the middle of a stellar season. He grabbed the title in both of his Grand Prix events and finished an impressive second at the Grand Prix Final. With two clean skates, Oda could be the biggest surprise (and crowd favorite) of the men's event.
Nobunari Oda's mistakes at the 2009 Worlds kept him off the podium—he fell out of the rink during his short program and performed too many jump combinations in his free skate. All was not lost, as Oda landed a clean quad for the first time that season and cried "happy tears" when he finished his free skate. "It was great," he says of that performance. "I want to make [the quad] consistent for [the] Olympic season."
Oda initially was named the 2006 Japanese champion, and an award ceremony was held where he was awarded gold and Daisuke Takahashi the silver. But later, it was determined that Oda had done too many triple jumps. The scores were adjusted, and the medals were swapped. "The federation told me, but I was very confused, I didn't know what I did." he says. "Then I was very sad." Because Japan had only one entry for the Torino Games, Daisuke was sent to the Olympics and Nobunari to Worlds, where he placed fourth.
Since the Torino Games were during his first season as a senior, Oda said that it "was not a big deal" to miss out on the Olympics even though he thought that his results were good enough to go. But this time around is different. "I've been training for four years. I want to make the spot to Vancouver," he says. And once he gets there? "I want to be on the podium."
The ISU Judging system has specified limits for the number of jumps and jump combinations allowed, and Oda has exceeded the maximums on several occasions, including the 2009 Worlds and the 2006 Japanese Nationals, where the mistake kept him off the Olympic team. "I get too excited and overwhelmed," he says. "I get confused. I do stupid things. I need to control myself." But he's vows not to make those mistakes this year saying, "I will always stick to the plan."
On July 26, 2007, Oda was stopped on his moped at a police checkpoint and charged with a DUI. He was fined 100,000 Yen (about $875 USD), and the Japanese Skating Federation suspended him from international competition for five months. Oda also did community service, picking up trash and teaching skating lessons. While he could have competed at Japanese nationals and attempted to qualify for the 2008 Worlds, Nobunari decided to sit out the season because he says, "I was not ready to return from that bad behavior to compete. I could not forgive myself what I did."
Career Highlights
2009 Japanese champion, 2005 junior world champion
2009-10 Music
Short Program: Totentanz performed by Maksim
Free Skate: selection of Charlie Chaplin music ("It's heartwarming. Very much like life. It's sad and fun," he says.)
Don't make the mistake of overlooking Nobunari Oda for a podium finish in Vancouver. Other skaters, including his own teammate, Daisuke Takahashi, often overshadow him but Oda is in the middle of a stellar season. He grabbed the title in both of his Grand Prix events and finished an impressive second at the Grand Prix Final. With two clean skates, Oda could be the biggest surprise (and crowd favorite) of the men's event.
Nobunari Oda's mistakes at the 2009 Worlds kept him off the podium—he fell out of the rink during his short program and performed too many jump combinations in his free skate. All was not lost, as Oda landed a clean quad for the first time that season and cried "happy tears" when he finished his free skate. "It was great," he says of that performance. "I want to make [the quad] consistent for [the] Olympic season."
Oda initially was named the 2006 Japanese champion, and an award ceremony was held where he was awarded gold and Daisuke Takahashi the silver. But later, it was determined that Oda had done too many triple jumps. The scores were adjusted, and the medals were swapped. "The federation told me, but I was very confused, I didn't know what I did." he says. "Then I was very sad." Because Japan had only one entry for the Torino Games, Daisuke was sent to the Olympics and Nobunari to Worlds, where he placed fourth.
Since the Torino Games were during his first season as a senior, Oda said that it "was not a big deal" to miss out on the Olympics even though he thought that his results were good enough to go. But this time around is different. "I've been training for four years. I want to make the spot to Vancouver," he says. And once he gets there? "I want to be on the podium."
The ISU Judging system has specified limits for the number of jumps and jump combinations allowed, and Oda has exceeded the maximums on several occasions, including the 2009 Worlds and the 2006 Japanese Nationals, where the mistake kept him off the Olympic team. "I get too excited and overwhelmed," he says. "I get confused. I do stupid things. I need to control myself." But he's vows not to make those mistakes this year saying, "I will always stick to the plan."
On July 26, 2007, Oda was stopped on his moped at a police checkpoint and charged with a DUI. He was fined 100,000 Yen (about $875 USD), and the Japanese Skating Federation suspended him from international competition for five months. Oda also did community service, picking up trash and teaching skating lessons. While he could have competed at Japanese nationals and attempted to qualify for the 2008 Worlds, Nobunari decided to sit out the season because he says, "I was not ready to return from that bad behavior to compete. I could not forgive myself what I did."
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