Higuchi Wakaba to miss 2022-23 campaign due to injury

Beijing 2022 team bronze medalist Higuchi Wakaba of Japan will miss the 2022-2023 competitive season due to a stress fracture. Wakaba has been battling the injury since April when she found out her right shin had suffered an overuse injury.

Unfortunately, Wakaba has been slow to recover resulting in her absence. The Japan Skating Federation announced on Wednesday the 21-year-old, who made her Olympic debut in Beijing after finishing runner-up to Sakamoto Kaori at the nationals, would be forced to sit out the season.

Wakaba finished fifth in the singles, becoming only the fifth woman to land a triple Axel in Olympic history, but her performance went downhill quickly following Beijing.

At the World Championships in March in Montpellier, France, Higuchi finished all the way down in 11th place with 188.5 points, a far cry from her personal best of 214.44 and her strong performance at the Games. In April, Wakaba opened up about her injury saying she had been in pain since returning home from Beijing.

Wakaba herself confirmed the news saying, “I am not in good enough condition and will be passing up all competitions this season including the two Grand Prix events and the Japanese national championships.”

She went on to say, “I managed to climb a personal summit this February when I qualified for the Olympics which had been a career goal of mine. I will take it slow, one day at a time this season at my own pace and hopefully get back to being in the shape I know I can be in. After recharging my batteries, I hope I can skate better than ever for all of you. I appreciate your continued support.”