Career
Honda began short track speed skating at the age of six with his brother and switched to figure skating at nine. At 12, when he entered junior high school and moved to Sendai to train with Hiroshi Nagakubo. Although he started the sport somewhat late, he caught up very quickly and was, at 14, the youngest senior national champion in Japan ever. Honda became the first Four Continents Champion in history when he won the inaugural event in 1999.
Honda left Japan to train with Galina Zmievskaya in the United States and then moved to Canada to work with Doug Leigh. In 2002, Honda won the bronze medal at the 2002 World Championships and finished in 4th place at the Winter Olympic Games. He was the first male skater from Japan to medal at the World Championships since Minoru Sano took the bronze in 1977. Honda withdrew from the 2005 World Championships after injuring his ankle in a fall during the qualifying segment.
Honda ended his competitive career and turned to show skating in March 2006. He is also a TV commentator.
Honda resides in Takatsuki city, Osaka to coach Daisuke Takahashi (as a technical coach) and Kansai University Skating club. He also coached Mai Asada.
Read more about this topic: Takeshi Honda
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