Japan's Shoma Uno, a two-time men's figure skating Olympic medalist and back-to-back world champion, announced his retirement from competition via social media on Thursday.
A six-time Japanese national champion, Uno won the individual men's silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and bronze in Beijing in 2022. He also won team silver with Japan in 2022.
After finishing fourth at March's world championships in Montreal, where he was bidding for a third straight title, the 26-year-old revealed he had been struggling to find motivation over the past two seasons.
Uno made the announcement on his Instagram account, saying he would discuss his future plans in a retirement press conference to be streamed online on Tuesday.
"I want to thank everyone who has supported me and cheered for me as a competitor until now," he said. "I discovered skating when I was five years old and am very grateful to have continued for 21 years and have had a wonderful competitive career."
The Nagoya native took up the sport after visiting a rink in the city and receiving encouragement from former women's world champion and local heroine Mao Asada.
He spent much of his career in the shadow of superstar compatriot Yuzuru Hanyu, who was both a friend and rival on the ice. The pair completed a one-two finish for Japan in Pyeongchang, where Hanyu won his second consecutive Olympic gold.
Uno said Hanyu's retirement in July 2022, as well as the departure from the sport of another star contemporary, Beijing Olympic champion Nathan Chen of the United States, had left him less hungry to compete.
"Maybe it's my age, or Nathan and Yuzu's influence, but I wasn't able to feel strongly like I wanted to win," Uno said after the world championships in March.
Hanyu said in a statement that he felt "very lucky and happy" that he could compete with Uno on the global stage. "Going forward, I hope you can imagine many forms of happiness for your future, and that you're able to realize them," he said.
The Japan Skating Federation said fans were "enchanted" by Uno's "awe-inspiring performances" that boosted the sport's popularity in Japan. "We appreciate his great contributions to the promotion of figure skating and the advancement of its culture," it added.
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