Queens Of the Ice: Japan’s Midori Ito
“It will be 50 years before we see anything like Midori Ito again .”— Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olympic Champion commentating on the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships
There are many legendary figures in figure skating but one of it’s biggest technical trailblazers is Japan’s Midori Ito. She is the first woman in figure skating history that could successfully complete all six figure skating jumps in competition and also the first woman to successfully complete a triple-triple jump combination in competition. We see young women landing quadruple jumps now but this is the woman who laid the groundwork for future generations of ladies to attempt difficult technical elements that it was believed only men could do.
Midori’s path to becoming a legend in the annuals of figure skating started in Nagoya Japan. She first stepped onto the ice at four years old and by the age of eight she was landing triple jumps. Despite her amazing jumping ability, she was having difficulty reaching the top spot and one of the reasons why was the compulsory figures. Compulsory figures were making complex patterns in the ice that also taught skaters how to use their blade edges for elements like spins, jumps and step sequences. This was one of the highest scored portions of figure skating competition and one many of the top figure skaters of the world could do well but though Midori tried, she was not strong in them. These compulsory figures would keep many skaters who were strong in jumps and artistry off the podium until 1990 when the ISU decided to eliminate them. The second was her artistry but she still got the opportunity to represent Japan at her first Olympics in 1988.
The major focus of all the media outlets at the 1988 Olympics were the “Battle of the Brians” and “Battle of the Carmens”. Eyes were on 1986 Men’s World Champion Brian Boitano and 1987 Men’s World Champion Brian Orser to see which one of them would claim the biggest prize in Men’s figure skating, the Olympic medal. For the ladies, eyes were on 1984 Olympic Champion Katerina Witt and her rival Debi Thomas, both competing to music from Carmen. But the audience would also be captivated by the petite Japanese skater who even though she stood no chance of going on the podium, skated a jump packed program that was more difficult than Katerina or Debi’s.
Midori after skating her 1989 Gold medal winning log program
Midori is so good she can compete with any of the men — Scott Hamilton at the 1989 World Figure Skating Championships
Katerina and Debi retired prior to the 1989 season and now all eyes were on the US’s Jill Trenary to take the crown at the World Championships but people were starting to notice Midori’s technical prowess and at the 1988 NHK Trophy competiton she did the most difficult jump in figure skating, the triple axel. Up until this point, only the men were able to do it. Not anymore. As her long program started 1984 Men’s Olympic Gold Medalist and a World Champion himself Scott Hamilton praised Midori’s jumping ability and she could compete with any of the men. Midori then did the forward take off for the triple axel and jumped her way into history by being the first woman to land it in World competition. She would be given perfect scores for her technical ability, these scores earning her the place she sought for so long, the title of World Champion. Many believed she would defend her title at the 1990 World Championships but the title would be awarded to Jill Trenary, a decision that is hotly disputed among figure skating fans. Though Jill’s artistic performance was strong, she repeated many jumps and not in combination as the rules dictated she should, something former World Champion Debi Thomas pointed out when she watched Jill skate the very same program at another competition. Two of them also were not clean. She was too far forward on one and stepped out of a second. I believe she was overscored in this program with her compulsory and artistic scores not being enough to justify her win.
Midori had another chance to reclaim her World title in 1991 but an issue she had been struggling with in international competition would rear its ugly head during her short program, the size of the rinks and also she had a collision on the ice earlier with France’s Laetitia Hubert. The rinks in Asia were larger and in trying to compensate for that Midori sometimes found herself skating too close to the boards. As she was doing her required jump combination in the short program Midori fell out of the rink on the second jump and into the pit where a camera crew was and got right back up and finished her program! Then she went over to the camera pit to ask the crew if they were okay and to pick up broken pieces of the board. The injuries she sustained during both accidents that day severely hampered her in the long program allowing the US team to sweep the podium with all three of its skaters in the top spots.
Tonya Harding is the only woman in the world that can compete jump for jump with Midori Ito — Scott Hamilton at Skate America 1991
1991 was also the year Midori Ito discovered that there was another woman who could possibly challenge her in technical ability and that was the 1991 US champion Tonya Harding. Tonya became the first American woman to land the triple axel in national and World competition and she became the first woman to land it in the short program. With her win at Skate America the US was hoping for a second medals sweep at the 1992 Olympics but Tonya was starting to have poor performances leading up to the games giving Midori another chance to remind everyone she was still one of the best.
Midori’s chances of claiming an Olympic medal seemed hopeless when she had a horrible fall in her short program and another in the long program when she attempted her triple axel. Tonya also attempted the triple axel in her short and long programs and fell on both attempts. But at Trophie Lalilique, a competition held prior to the games, Midori threw in replacement jumps to those she missed and took the gold away from the woman favored to win at the Olympics, the US’s Kristi Yamaguchi. She knew going into the log program she had no chance at the gold but she could still medal and at 3:10 in her program, when a skater is starting to get tired, Midori jumped into history once again by being the first woman to land a triple axel in Olympic competition and earned the silver medal.
Midori retired from amateur competition and started skating professionally where she would provide one final entry to the historical record books when she became the first woman to land the triple axel in professional competition in 1993 and 1994. Midori would try one more time to compete as an amateur in 1996 but then retired again.
Midori was very excited when I won Junior Worlds. Maybe more than I was. Mao Asada — 2005 Junior World Champion, Three time World Champion, 2010 Olympic silver medalist
When the Olympic games returned to her home country in 1998, Japan finally honored its historic trailblazer by having her light the ceremonial flame and later Midori would watch with pride as Japan started to become a powerhouse in the figure skating world when another young lady named Mao Asada, inspired by Midori’s historic feats, jumped her way into figure skating history by being the first woman to land three triple axels in the same competition at the 2010 Olympics and the first woman to land it at multiple Olympics. She would also be the oldest woman to complete the jump in international competition when she was 26 years old. While the younger generations of skaters now look up to Mao Asada, the legacy began with Midori Ito.
