Tim Koleto

Tim Koleto
File:2018 Rostelecom Cup Misato Komatsubara Tim Koleto 2018-11-17 16-13-05 (2).jpg Koleto and Komatsubara at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup
Personal information
Full name	Timothy Koleto
Alternative names	Takeru Komatsubara (小松原 尊)
Country represented	Japan
Former country(ies) represented	Norway South Korea United States
Born	(1991-06-17) June 17, 1991 Kalispell, Montana, United States
Height
Partner	Misato Komatsubara
Former partner	Thea Rabe Yura Min
Coach	Marie-France Dubreuil Patrice Lauzon Romain Haguenauer Rie Arikawa Cathy Reed
Former coach	Igor Shpilband Adrienne Lenda Fabian Bourzat Greg Zuerlein Barbara Fusar-Poli Stefano Caruso
Choreographer	Romain Haguenauer
Skating club	Montreal International School of Skating
Former skating club	Kurashiki FSC Trondheim SC SC of Novi
Training locations	Montreal
Former training locations	Milan, Novi, Michigan
Began skating	1998
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	172.20 2021 NHK Trophy
Short dance	68.13 2021 NHK Trophy
Free dance	104.07 2021 NHK Trophy
Medal record Representing Japan Figure skating: Ice dancing Olympic Games 2022 Beijing Team World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team 2021 Osaka Team

Timothy Koleto (小松原 尊, Komatsubara Takeru, born June 17, 1991) is an American-born ice dancer who became a Japanese citizen in 2020. He and his wife, Misato Komatsubara, are the 2020 NHK Trophy gold medalists and four-time Japanese national champions. Together, they also earned a bronze medal from the team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Earlier in his career, Koleto competed with partner Yura Min for South Korea, winning the 2014 national title and placing tenth at the 2014 Four Continents. He also competed with Thea Rabe for Norway.

Personal life

Koleto was born June 17, 1991, in Kalispell, Montana. He married Misato Komatsubara in January 2017 in Okayama, Japan.

Koleto became a Japanese citizen on November 19, 2020. Upon becoming a Japanese citizen, Koleto legally adopted the Komatsubara surname. Japanese law requires couples to share a surname, and he felt that "to be Japanese but ask my wife to change to a foreign surname I thought was quite strange." He chose the personal name Takeru after consulting his mother-in-law about what name she would have used if she had had another child.

He studies and speaks Japanese.

Career

Early years

Koleto began learning to skate in 1998. He worked with trainers in his hometown.

He placed 6th in the junior men's category at the 2012 U.S. Championships. In June 2012 he dislocated his knee and partially tore his hamstring and lateral collateral ligament while practicing a triple Axel jump . During practice in December, he twisted his ankle and tore the tibiofibular ligament.

Partnership with Min

2013–14 season

Koleto switched to ice dancing and teamed up with Yura Min in April 2013. They placed 9th at the 2013 Ukrainian Open in December 2013. They were the only senior ice dance team competing at the 2014 South Korean Championships and they won with a score of 105.49. Representing South Korea, the duo placed tenth at the 2014 Four Continents Championships. At the 2014 Bavarian Open, they placed tenth.

2014–15 season

They placed eighth at an ISU Challenger Series event, the 2014 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. They finished fifth at their last event together, the International Cup of Nice in October 2014. They were coached by Igor Shpilband and Greg Zuerlein in Novi, Michigan.

Partnership with Rabe

Koleto had tryouts with Norway's Thea Rabe in November 2014 in Lyon, France, and the following month in Novi, Michigan. They agreed to skate together for Norway. In May 2015, Rabe moved to the United States to train with Koleto. Igor Shpilband, Adrienne Lenda, Fabian Bourzat, and Greg Zuerlein coached the team in Novi, Michigan.

2015–16 season

After being released by South Korea and sitting out one year, as required by the International Skating Union, Koleto became eligible to compete for Norway beginning October 20, 2015. Making their international debut, Rabe/Koleto won the bronze medal at the Volvo Open Cup in November 2015. They placed 8th at both the Open d'Andorra and the CS Warsaw Cup. Despite qualifying to the 2016 European Championships, they decided to end their partnership a few weeks before the event. They were Norway's first-ever ice dancing team.

Partnership with Komatsubara

2016–17 season

Koleto teamed up with Misato Komatsubara following a tryout in Milan in April 2016. They decided to train together in Milan under Barbara Fusar-Poli. They received the bronze medal at the 2016–17 Japan Championships in December 2016.

2017–18 season

Making their international debut for Japan, Komatsubara/Koleto placed 8th at the CS Lombardia Trophy in September 2017. They finished 10th at their sole Grand Prix event, the 2017 NHK Trophy. In December, the two won the silver medal at the 2017–18 Japan Championships. They placed 10th at the 2018 Four Continents Championships with a historic personal best score of 138.18. They placed 4th at the 2018 Toruń Cup.

2018–19 season

In March 2018, Komatsubara/Koleto announced that they had moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to train under Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer at the Gadbois Centre.

They won bronze at both of their ISU Challenger Series events, the 2018 CS Asian Open Trophy and 2018 CS US International Classic. They competed at two Grand Prix assignments, placing eighth at the 2018 NHK Trophy and eighth at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup.

Following the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, they moved to Japan to train (coached by Rie Arikawa) in order for Koleto to meet a residency requirement for a future citizenship application. At the 2018–19 Japanese Championships, they won the event after placing first in both segments. They placed ninth at the 2019 Four Continents Championships after placing ninth in both segments. Komatsubara/Koleto represented Japan at their first World Championships in 2019, held in Saitama, where they placed twenty-first in the rhythm dance, missing the free dance by one ordinal.

To conclude the season, they participated in the 2019 World Team Trophy as part of Team Japan, which won the silver medal. Komatsubara/Koleto placed sixth of sixth competitors in each of their segments. Komatsubara served as the Japanese team captain.

2019–20 season

Initially scheduled to begin the season at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, Komatsubara/Koleto withdrew early in the preseason, as a result of Komatsubara having sustained multiple concussions that required her to take time away from training. They later made their season debut at a different Challenger, the 2019 CS Asian Open, where they finished ninth. On the Grand Prix, they were tenth out of ten teams at the 2019 Cup of China. They withdrew from the 2019 NHK Trophy.

Returning to competition at the 2019–20 Japan Championships, they won their second consecutive national title. Komatsubara/Koleto finished eleventh at the 2020 Four Continents Championships. They were assigned to compete at the 2020 World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

2020–21 season

With the pandemic continuing to affect international travel, the ISU opted to base the Grand Prix primarily on geographic location of competitors. Komatsubara/Koleto were assigned to compete at the 2020 NHK Trophy in a field consisting only of three Japanese dance teams, including the newly debuted pairing of former national champion Kana Muramoto and former Olympic medalist singles skater Daisuke Takahashi. The event occurred a week after Koleto successfully obtained Japanese citizenship, making the team eligible to represent Japan at the Winter Olympics. He said it was "great to share this moment with the Japanese audience." They placed first in the rhythm dance by more than six points. Winning the free dance as well, they took the title, the first Japanese dance team to win the NHK Trophy in its history.

Competing at the 2020–21 Japan Championships, Komatsubara/Koleto placed first in the rhythm dance, four points ahead of Muramoto/Takahashi. They won the free dance by almost twenty points, and took their third consecutive national title. Both the silver and bronze medalist teams made serious errors.

Komatsubara/Koleto were named as Japan's representatives to the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm. They placed nineteenth, making the free dance for the first time. Komatsubara/Koleto's result qualified a berth for a Japanese dance team at the 2022 Winter Olympics. They were the first Japanese team in 12 years to qualify directly from the World Championships.

Komatsubara/Koleto finished the season at the 2021 World Team Trophy, where they placed fifth in both of their segments of the competition, and Team Japan won the bronze medal.

2021–22 season

In preparing their programs for the Olympic season, Komatsubara and Koleto chose a free dance to John Williams's score for Memoirs of a Geisha. Komatsubara felt "there were pieces of our story, pieces of our road, all inside of this music and in this movie."

Komatsubara/Koleto made their season debut at the 2021 Skate America, where they placed sixth. At their second event on the Grand Prix, the 2021 NHK Trophy, they finished in seventh place, 7.30 points behind domestic rivals Muramoto/Takahashi. Koleto said afterward "there were a lot of things that didn’t go as we wanted them," but expressed satisfaction at having achieved new personal bests. He said that their goal was to score over 180 points at the national championships.

The 2021–22 Japan Championships, the final national qualification event for the 2022 Winter Olympics, pitted Komatsubara/Koleto against Muramoto/Takahashi for the second time that season. They won the rhythm dance, and finished second in the free dance to win the title overall, and were subsequently named to the Japanese Olympic team.

Komatsubara/Koleto began the 2022 Winter Olympics as the Japanese entries in the rhythm dance segment of the Olympic team event. They placed seventh in the segment, securing four points for Team Japan. They went on to finish fifth of the five dance teams in the free segment, taking six points for Japan. The Japanese team ultimately won the bronze medal, making the podium for the first time in the history of the team event. In the dance event, Komatsubara/Koleto finished twenty-second in the rhythm dance.

Programs

With Komatsubara

Season	Rhythm dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2021–2022	"Le Freak" by Chic "What You Won't Do for Love" by Bobby Caldwell You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester choreo. by Ginette Cournoyer, Samuel Chouinard	Sayuri's Theme Going to School The Chairman's Waltz Sayuri's Theme and End Credits (from Memoirs of a Geisha) by John Williams choreo. by Ginette Cournoyer, Samuel Chouinard
2020–2021	Blues: Dreamgirls Swing: One Night Only Disco: Jimmy Got Soul (from Dreamgirls) by Henry Krieger & Tom Eyen choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer	Une histoire d'amour performed by Mireille Mathieu choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer	Umarekuru Kodomotachi no Tame ni by Kazumasa Oda
2019–2020	Blues: Dreamgirls Swing: One Night Only Disco: Jimmy Got Soul (from Dreamgirls) by Henry Krieger & Tom Eyen choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer	Cry of the Celts Suil a Ruin The Lord of the Dance (from Lord of the Dance) by Ronan Hardiman choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer
2018–2019	Tango: El Sol Sueno by Gidon Kremer Tango: Sueno de Barrilete by Susana Rinaldi choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer	Une histoire d'amour performed by Mireille Mathieu choreo. by Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain Haguenauer	Your Name by RADWIMPS
	Short dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2017–2018	Salsa: Ahora Quien by Marc Anthony Rhumba: Ahora Quien by Marc Anthony Samba: Samba do Brasil (Radio Remix) by Bellini choreo. by Barbara Fusar-Poli	Where Is It Written? (from Yentl) by Barbra Streisand, Michel Legrand End Credits (from Sabrina) by John Williams A Piece of Sky (from Yentl) by Barbra Streisand, Michel Legrand choreo. by Barbara Fusar-Poli
2016–2017	Mercy on Me Candyman choreo. by Christopher Dean	Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddie Mercury choreo. by Christopher Dean

With Rabe

Season	Short dance	Free dance
2015–2016	Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev Waltz: Cinderella's Departure for the Ball March: Clock Scene Waltz: Cinderella's Departure for the Ball choreo. by Barbara Fusar-Poli, Igor Shpilband	Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg Morning In the Hall of the Mountain King choreo. by Igor Shpilband, Fabian Bourzat

With Min

Season	Short dance	Free dance
2014–2015	Flamenco: Lucia by Oscar Lopez Paso doble: Malagueña Flamenco: Fiesta Flamenca by Monty Kelly	Belleville Rendez-Vous by Benoît Charest Under the Bridge by Benoît Charest Theme Bruno by Benoît Charest Suzy by Caravan Palace
2013–2014	Quickstep: Kap'n Kid Foxtrot: Un mate in luca by Raphael Gualazzi Quickstep: Kap'n Kid	Notre-Dame de Paris by Riccardo Cocciante

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

With Komatsubara for Japan

International
Event	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23
Olympics						22nd
Worlds			21st	C	19th
Four Continents		10th	9th	11th
GP Cup of China				10th
GP NHK Trophy		10th	8th	WD	1st	7th
GP Rostelecom			8th
GP Skate America						6th
GP Skate Canada							TBD
CS Asian Open			3rd	9th		WD
CS Autumn Classic				WD
CS Lombardia		8th
CS U.S. Classic			3rd
CS Warsaw Cup						WD
Toruń Cup		4th
National
Japan Champ.	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st
Team events
Olympics						3rd T
World Team Trophy			2nd T 6th P		3rd T 5th P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

With Rabe for Norway

International
Event	2015–16
CS Warsaw Cup	8th
Volvo Open Cup	3rd
Open d'Andorra	8th

With Min for South Korea

International
Event	2013–14	2014–15
Four Continents Champ.	10th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy		8th
Bavarian Open	10th
Cup of Nice		5th
Ukrainian Open	9th
National
South Korean Champ.	1st

Men's singles

National
Event	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13
U.S. Championships			11th N	10th J	6th J
Midwestern Sectionals			4th N	3rd J	1st J	5th
Southwestern Regionals	5th N	7th N	2nd N
Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior

Detailed results

With Komatsubara for Japan

ISU personal best scores highlighted in bold. Historic (ie before the 2018–19 season) ISU personal best scores highlighted in bold and italicized.

2021–22 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
February 12–14, 2022	2022 Winter Olympics	22 65.41	—	22 65.41
February 4–7, 2022	2022 Winter Olympics — Team event	7 66.54	5 98.66	3T
December 22–26, 2021	2021–22 Japan Championships	1 68.16	2 110.01	1 178.17
November 12–14, 2021	2021 NHK Trophy	7 68.13	7 104.07	7 172.20
October 22–24, 2021	2021 Skate America	7 63.56	6 100.76	6 164.32
2020–21 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
April 15–18, 2021	2021 World Team Trophy	5 66.42	5 100.82	3T/5P 167.24
March 22–28, 2021	2021 World Championships	18 68.02	20 99.79	19 167.81
December 24–27, 2020	2020–21 Japan Championships	1 71.74	1 103.49	1 175.23
November 27–29, 2020	2020 NHK Trophy	1 70.76	1 108.29	1 179.05
2019–20 season
Date	Event	SD	FD	Total
February 4 – 9, 2020	2020 Four Continents Championships	11 61.45	10 95.75	11 157.20
December 18–22, 2019	2019–20 Japan Championships	1 63.79	1 99.52	1 163.31
November 8–10, 2019	2019 Cup of China	10 56.60	10 88.75	10 145.35
October 30 - November 3, 2019	2019 CS Asian Open Trophy	9 55.39	9 86.70	9 142.09
2018–19 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
April 11–14, 2019	2019 World Team Trophy	6 60.93	6 99.31	2T/6P 160.24
March 18–24, 2019	2019 World Championships	21 60.98	-	21 60.98
February 7-10, 2019	2019 Four Continents Championships	9 54.94	9 94.20	9 149.14
December 20–24, 2018	2018–19 Japan Championships	1 52.21	1 100.39	1 152.60
November 16–18, 2018	2018 Rostelecom Cup	8 52.99	8 90.29	8 143.28
November 9–11, 2018	2018 NHK Trophy	9 59.40	8 94.87	8 154.27
September 12–16, 2018	2018 CS US International Classic	4 53.42	3 89.51	3 142.93
August 1–5, 2018	2018 CS Asian Open Trophy	3 61.28	2 93.47	3 154.75
2017–18 season
Date	Event	SD	FD	Total
Jan. 30–Feb. 4, 2018	2018 Toruń Cup	4 58.90	4 88.96	4 147.86
January 22–28, 2018	2018 Four Continents Championships	10 52.45	9 85.73	10 138.18
December 20–24, 2017	2017–18 Japan Championships	2 56.65	2 92.82	2 149.47
November 10–12, 2017	2017 NHK Trophy	10 53.83	10 78.58	10 132.41
September 14–17, 2017	2017 CS Lombardia Trophy	9 49.80	6 78.48	8 128.28
2016–17 season
December 22–25, 2016	2016–17 Japan Championships	3 51.47	3 73.85	3 125.12

With Rabe for Norway

2015–16 season
Date	Event	SD	FD	Total
November 27–29, 2015	2015 CS Warsaw Cup	8 42.66	8 65.14	8 107.80
November 19–22, 2015	2015 Open d'Andorra	6 47.63	8 61.31	8 108.94
November 4–8, 2015	2015 Volvo Open Cup	4 47.96	4 74.07	3 122.03

With Min for South Korea

2014–15 season
Date	Event	SD	FD	Total
October 15–19, 2014	2014 International Cup of Nice	6 40.04	4 68.84	5 108.88
September 24–27, 2014	2014 CS Nebelhorn Tropy	8 40.10	8 63.36	8 103.46
2013–14 season
Date	Event	SD	FD	Total
January 29–February 2, 2014	2014 Bavarian Open	10 44.53	10 65.68	10 110.21
January 22–28, 2018	2014 Four Continents Championships	8 45.12	10 66.11	10 111.23
January 3–5, 2014	2014 South Korean Championships	1 41.64	1 63.85	1 105.49
December 18–20, 2013	2013 Ukrainian Open	8 41.26	10 63.43	9 104.69

External links

• Misato Komatsubara / Timothy Koleto at the International Skating Union
• Thea Rabe / Timothy Koleto at the International Skating Union
• Yura Min / Timothy Koleto at the International Skating Union