Ami Nakai is currently a student at Ichikawa Municipal Junior High School in Ichikawa, Chiba.
29 Facts About Ami Nakai
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Ami Nakai originally practiced rhythmic gymnastics but ultimately switched to figure skating after being inspired by watching Mao Asada perform on TV when she was five years old.
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Ami Nakai originally trained at the Ibis SC in Niigata under coaches, Kousuke Watabe and Izumi Watabe.
4.
Ami Nakai would start practicing and landing triple axels in her fifth year of elementary school.
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In spring 2021, Ami Nakai moved with her mother from her hometown of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture to Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture so that Ami Nakai could train at the MF Figure Skating Academy, while her father remained in Niigata due to his work.
6.
Kensuke Nakaniwa, Makoto Nakata, Momoe Nagumo, Aya Tanoue, and Akane Seo became Ami Nakai's new coaching team.
7.
Ami Nakai popped her planned triple Axel in the short program and struggled on the landing of the triple Lutz, finishing in twenty-seventh and not advancing to the final.
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Ami Nakai was sent to 2022 Coupe du Printemps to compete at the junior category.
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Ami Nakai won and became the twentieth woman to land a triple Axel in international competition.
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In September 2022, Ami Nakai debuted on the Junior Grand Prix circuit at the 2022 JGP Latvia in Riga.
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Ami Nakai landed all her jumps cleanly in her short program and placed third with 63.87 points.
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Ami Nakai attempted a triple Axel but was marked as under-rotated during the free skate.
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Ami Nakai landed a clean triple Axel in the free skate and said afterward that she hoped to do two in the free skate at the Final.
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Ami Nakai placed third in that segment, moving up to take the bronze medal.
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Two weeks later, at the Junior Grand Prix Final, Ami Nakai finished in fourth place, 1.16 points behind bronze medalist Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea.
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Ami Nakai appeared at her second senior Japan Championships, finishing eighth in the short program.
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Ami Nakai finished fourth in the free skate, successfully landing two triple Axel jumps, and rising to fourth place overall.
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Ami Nakai fell on her triple Axel attempt at the beginning of the free skate, but delivered the rest of the program cleanly, finishing third in that segment as well and winning the bronze medal.
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Ami Nakai began the season by competing on the Junior Grand Prix at the 2023 JGP Thailand, skating a clean short program to lead the segment.
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Ami Nakai was tenth in the free skate, and rose to tenth overall, as a result missing qualification for both the senior national championships and the Japanese team for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.
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Ami Nakai next appeared at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Beijing, placing fourth in the short program.
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Ami Nakai was fifth in that segment, and came fifth overall.
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Ami Nakai traveled to Toronto, Canada for a training camp at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club during the summer.
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Ami Nakai began practicing and landing quadruple toe loops for the first time.
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Weeks later, Ami Nakai competed at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France.
26.
Ami Nakai placed third in the short program, and fourth in the free skate, taking and third overall, winning her first JGP Final medal, and rounding out a Japanese sweep in the junior women's event alongside Kaoruko Wada and Mao Shimada.
27.
Ami Nakai placed third in the short program at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, winning a bronze small medal, despite a "shaky" double Axel landing.
28.
Ami Nakai struggled in the free skate, including errors on both triple Axel attempts, as a result coming sixth in that segment and dropping to fourth overall.
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Ami Nakai finished 2.82 points behind American bronze medalist Elyce Lin-Gracey.