Taiga Nishino

Taiga Nishino
Personal information
Native name
西野 太翔
Other namesNishino Taiga
Born (2009-10-16) 16 October 2009
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Home townYokohama
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country Japan
CoachMisao Sato
Akiko Sato
Skating clubSeisa International High School Yokohama Kanagawa Figure Skating Club
Began skating2014
Medal record
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2026 Talinn Singles

Taiga Nishino (西野 太翔, Nishino Taiga; born 16 October 2009) is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2026 World Junior bronze medalist, a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist, and a two-time Japanese junior national medalist.

Personal life

Nishino was born on 16 October 2009 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.[1]

He cites Yuzuru Hanyu and Yuma Kagiyama as his greatest skating influences.[2] His hobbies include cooking, shopping and napping.[3]

Career

Early career

Nishino began skating at age five, inspired by his older sister and watching Yuzuru Hanyu's Parisienne Walkways short program at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[4][5] His first coach was Eri Kikkawa.[6]

Nishino debuted as a basic novice skater at the 2019–20 Japan Championships, winning the silver medal and winning bronze the following year.[7]

During the 2021–22 season, Nishino moved up to the advanced novice level, winning silver at the 2021–22 Japan Championships. With that result, he was selected to compete at the Japan Junior Championships, where he finished in twenty-fifth place.[7]

Prior to the 2022–23 season, Misao Sato became Nishino's new coach.[8] He subsequently went on to win silver on the advanced novice level and finished twelfth on the junior level at the 2022–23 Japan Championships.[7]

2023–24 season: Junior international debut

Nishino made his junior international debut in August at the 2023 JGP Austria, where he finished in ninth place. A couple months later, he competed at the 2023–24 Japan Junior Championships, finishing fifth overall. Selected to compete on the senior level at the 2023–24 Japan Championships in December, Nishino placed thirtieth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment.[7]

2024–25 season

Nishino opened his season by finishing sixth at 2024 JGP Czech Republic.[7] He went on to compete at the 2024–25 Japan Junior Championships, winning the bronze medal behind Rio Nakata and Sena Takahashi.[9]

In December, Nishino competed at the 2024–25 Japan Championships, where he placed twelfth overall.[7]

2025–26 season: World Junior bronze

Nishino began his season by winning the gold medal at 2025 JGP Italy. During his free skate at the event, he successfully completed both a quadruple toe loop and a quadruple salchow, breaking his personal bests in both the free skate and combined total scores.[7][10] He went on to compete at 2025 JGP Poland, winning the silver medal. With these results, Nishino qualified for the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final.[7]

In November, Nishino competed at the 2025–26 Japan Junior Championships, where he won the silver medal behind Rio Nakata.[11]

The following month, he competed at the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan, placing fifth overall.[12] Two weeks later, Nishino competed on the senior level at the 2025–26 Japan Championships, finishing in eleventh place overall.[13]

Selected to compete at the 2026 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Nishino placed fourth in the short program and second in the free skate to win the bronze medal overall behind Rio Nakata and Seo Min-kyu as well as scoring personal bests in all competition segments.[14][7] "The good thing about this free skate was that I managed to skate a clean program and fight until the end. That was good," he said during a press conference following the event.[15]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2026–2027
[16][17]
2025–2026
[1]
2024–2025
[18]
  • Earth Song
    by Amadeus Electric Quartet
  • Rock Me Amadeus
    by Falco
    performed by Amadeus Electric Quartet
  • Autumn Moon
    by Eternal Eclipse
    choreo. by Misao Sato
2023–2024
[19][20]
  • Carmina Burana
    by Carl Orff
    • O Fortuna
      performed by Gu Dian Da Shi
    • Primo Vere: Veris Leta Facies - Omnia Sol Temperat - Ecce Gratum
      performed by Gerda Hartmann, Kurt Prestel, Orquesta Sinfónica de Salzburgo Mozarteum, Richard Brunner, Rudolf Knoll, & Ernst Hinreiner
      choreo. by Misao Sato
2022–2023
[21][8]
2021–2022
[6]

Competitive highlights

Competition placements at senior level [7][22]
Season 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Japan Championships 30th 12th 11th
Competition placements at junior level [7][22]
Season 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27
World Junior Championships 3rd
Junior Grand Prix Final 5th
Japan Championships 25th 12th 5th 3rd 2nd
JGP Austria 9th
JGP Czech Republic 6th
JGP Italy 1st
JGP Poland 2nd
JGP Slovenia TBD
JGP Thailand TBD

Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [7]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS241.232026 World Junior Championships
Short program TSS81.142026 World Junior Championships
TES43.992026 World Junior Championships
PCS37.232025 JGP Poland
Free skating TSS160.092026 World Junior Championships
TES87.062026 World Junior Championships
PCS73.762025 JGP Italy

Senior level

Results in the 2023–24 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Dec 20–24, 2023 Japan 2023–24 Japan Championships 30 50.77 N/a N/a 30 50.77
Results in the 2024–25 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Dec 19–22, 2024 Japan 2024–25 Japan Championships 9 77.58 14 135.49 12 213.07
Results in the 2025–26 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Dec 18–21, 2025 Japan 2025–26 Japan Championships 17 70.18 8 140.93 11 211.11

Junior level

Results in the 2021–22 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 19–21, 2021 Japan 2021–22 Japan Championships (Junior) 25 46.41 N/a N/a 25 46.41
Results in the 2022–23 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 25–27, 2022 Japan 2022–23 Japan Championships (Junior) 12 56.37 11 114.37 12 170.74
Results in the 2023–24 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 30 – Sep 2, 2023 Austria 2023 JGP Austria 16 49.65 6 126.25 9 175.90
Nov 17–19, 2023 Japan 2023–24 Japan Championships (Junior) 8 63.52 3 132.19 5 195.71
Results in the 2024–25 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 4–7, 2024 Czech Republic 2024 JGP Czech Republic 2 77.20 6 123.03 6 200.23
Nov 15–17, 2024 Japan 2024–25 Japan Championships (Junior) 3 75.85 5 132.64 3 208.49
Results in the 2025–26 season [7]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 3–6, 2025 Italy 2025 JGP Italy 2 75.97 1 157.53 1 233.50
Oct 1–4, 2025 Poland 2025 JGP Poland 1 78.81 3 140.54 2 219.35
Nov 22–24, 2025 Japan 2025–26 Japan Championships (Junior) 2 79.95 2 155.69 2 235.64
Dec 4–7, 2025 Japan 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final 6 64.01 5 138.59 5 202.60
Mar 3–8, 2026 Estonia 2026 World Junior Championships 4 81.14 2 160.09 3 241.23

References

  1. 1 2 "Taiga NISHINO: 2025/2026". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "西野 太翔". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "西野　太翔". Skating Japan. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "西野 太翔". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "【フジテレビ公式】2022全日本ジュニア強化合宿　インタビューVol.2". Youtube. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  6. 1 2 "第90回 全日本フィギュアスケートジュニア選手権　＜ジュニア男子＞" (PDF). Fuji TV. Fuji TV. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "JPN–Taiga Nishino". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  8. 1 2 "2022　関東選手権　（9/23～25）" (PDF). Fuji TV. Fuji TV. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "2025 Japanese Junior Nationals - Junior Mens Final Results". Skating Scores. Skating Scores. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  10. ↑ "西野太翔、安定した練習積めたことが自信に　2種類の4回転成功「自信」、イタリアも満喫－　【ジュニアGP第3戦イタリア大会帰国】". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "西野太翔、中田璃士の演技に浮かんできた言葉は『えぐいな』　「ライバルでもあるし、最高の友達」　【全日本ジュニア選手権男子フリー】". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  12. ↑ "西野太翔、失意のSPから中田璃士の言葉でプラス思考に　「明日で巻き返せば全然大丈夫だよ、みたいな」【ジュニアGPファイナル男子フリー】". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "西野太翔、4年後は最前線で戦えるような選手に　転倒も「いい経験になった」【全日本フィギュア男子フリー】". Deep Edge Plus. Kyodonews. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "中田璃士が日本勢男子初の世界ジュニア連覇、完璧4回転サルコウで驚異の出来栄え＋4.30　西野太翔が3位【フィギュア】". TBS News Dig. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "Taiga Nishino 🇯🇵 160.09 / 241.23". Instagram. Golden Skate. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  16. ↑ "西野太翔「気持ち良く滑れた」　アクアカップ". Kyodo News. Kyodo News. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "2026-27 SEASON PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS ✨". X. Skate Japan News. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "Taiga NISHINO: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 February 2025.
  19. ↑ "Taiga NISHINO: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "Taiga NISHINO (JPN) - Junior Men Free Skating - Linz 2023 - #JGPFigure". YouTube. ISU Skating. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Taiga Nishino西野太翔 2023全中 SP". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Taiga NISHINO: Competition Results". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
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