Etsuko Inada | |
---|---|
Native name | 稲田 悦子 |
Born | Osaka, Japan | February 8, 1924
Died | July 8, 2003 Chiba, Chiba, Japan | (aged 79)
Figure skating career | |
Country | Japan |
Began skating | 1932 |
Retired | 1952 |
Etsuko Inada (稲田 悦子, Inada Etsuko, Hiragana: いなだ えつこ; February 8, 1924 – July 8, 2003)[1] was a Japanese figure skater who mostly competed in singles. She was the first female athlete to represent Japan at the Winter Olympics.[2]
Inada began skating at eight years old.[3] She was a seven-time Japanese national champion and represented Japan at the 1936 Winter Olympics at the age of 12.[4] While competing there, she wore a costume given to her by the Japanese Women's Association of Berlin.[2]
After the war, she married and had a son. She returned to competitive skating and won a competition shortly before the planned 1949 Japanese national championships, but the national championships were cancelled due to the weather becoming too warm.[5] Her last competition was the 1951 World Figure Skating Championships.
Later in her life, she opened a store in Aoyama, Tokyo and coached at a rink in front of the Prince Chichibu Memorial Sports Museum, which holds her costume from the Olympics in its collection.[6][7] Her students included Olympic skaters Miwa Fukuhara, Junko Hiramatsu, and Haruko Okamoto. She died in 2003 from stomach cancer.[3]
International | |||||||||
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Event | 1933–34 | 1934–35 | 1935–36 | 1936–37 | 1937–38 | 1938–39 | 1939–40 | 1940–41 | 1950–51 |
Olympics | 10th | ||||||||
Worlds | 10th | 21st | |||||||
Europeans | 9th | ||||||||
National | |||||||||
Japan | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
Japan Jr. | 1st |