Skaters We'll Miss, Part 5: Daisuke Takahashi

October 31, 2008: It's a few days before the start of the 2008 Cup of China and for Japanese superstar, Daisuke Takahashi, it's the day disaster strikes. He's just torn a ligament in his right leg, which will take him off the ice for the entire season. What's even worse is that this is the type of injury that might just abruptly end the career of one of the most promising skaters of the decade.

Long before becoming a superstar, Daisuke began his life in the ice rink by choosing between hockey and figure skating. He became a senior skater at the age of 16, but couldn't cope with the pressure and didn't become Japan's National Champion until four seasons later.

Phantom of the Opera
Photograph: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images Sport

In 2005/2006, at the age of 19, he almost lost the National title, and the chance to participate at the Olympics, when it was accidentally given to Nobunari Oda due to a miscalculation. The error was corrected though and Daisuke packed his skates for Turin, where he ended on 8th place. He had already become a star in Japan by this time and had made a name for himself on international ice by winning Skate America and two bronze medals at the NHK Trophy and, most importantly, the Grand Prix Final. He skated on the famous Tango de Roxanne in the short, wearing a most flattering black and red costume that proved no details were left behind when it came to his presentation. The free skate music was Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, an emotional composition that set the tone for most of his long programmes, and whose inflections allowed him to flaunt his interpretation skills.

His success continued in the following season, when he was ranked the best in the world by the ISU. He eventually dropped on second position due to a change of rules, but that doesn't take away from his achievement. He also earned a silver medal at the World Championships and won the Universiade. He chose classical music for the short, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 by Tchaikovski. There were a lot of similarities between this routine and his former free skate, especially in the costumes. His choice for the new long programme was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. As overused as this music is, he found a new angle to it by choosing the most dramatic bits and emphasizing the desperation and rage rather than the tragedy.

2008 Four Continents Podium
Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images Asia

He won his first Four Continents title in 2007/2008, which made him one of the favourites for the World podium. Unfortunately, he only finished the Worlds on fourth place. He decided to rely on P. I. Tchaikovski for both his programmes, choosing two of the composer's most popular works. The first one, Swan Lake, was not the original, but a modern, hip-hop version. This unique choice was innovative and so much fun you couldn't believe it was originally a ballet. Daisuke danced his skates off, electrifying every audience for which he performed. The routine quickly became one of the public's favourites. He stayed true to Romeo and Juliet though. The contrast between the two musical choices was brilliant, showing that he could interpret any music he wanted any way he wanted it. In a time when the presentation was becoming more and more relevant in this sport, he was one of the first skaters to jump more than one quad in his programmes and still be brilliant artistically.

2008/2009 was the darkest period of his life, as Daisuke himself calls it. The torn ligament injury caused so much damage he had to undergo surgery and miss the entire 2008/2009 season. During recovery he came close to giving up on the sport more than once. Fortunately, his coach, Utako Nagamitsu, got him back on track, convincing him he had the potential of becoming one of the greatest in the sport. She was absolutely right.

Daisuke with his Olympic medal
Photograph: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
North America

Determination and hard work got him back on the ice in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He wrote history in Vancouver when he won the Bronze medal and became the first Japanese skater to ever step on an Olympic podium. Shortly after he also became the first Asian to ever win a World title in his discipline. He let loose again in the short with COBA's Eye, a modern tango that made all the girls in the audience go mad. For Nino Rota's La Strada, Daisuke took the role of a street entertainer whose comedic act hides the pain and suffering he has to live through.

2010/2011 was a season filled with small incidents. During practice for the Grand Prix Final, Daisuke collided with his countryman, Takahiko Kozuka. Then, during the long programme at the World Championships, one of the bolts in his skates came loose. Fortunately, neither incident caused any major problem. He found inspiration for his short routine in Latino rhythms. Historia de un Amor and Que Rico el Mambo, both composed by Perez Prado, were definitely a challenge, but by not shying away from the sexy hip movements, he rose to it and at the same time, proved once more his versatility. Just in case the short wouldn't have proved out to be hot enough, he chose a selection of tangos by Astor Piazzolla for the free skate.

To improve his dancing skills, he started the next season by seeking the advice of Olivier Schoenfelder, the famous French ice-dancer who's one of Daisuke's favourites. All the effort put into perfecting his presentation paid off when Daisuke didn't miss the podium of a single competition he skated in. In the Garden of Souls by Vas was probably the trickiest short programme he's ever had because it doesn't have a storyline and it relies mainly on percussion instruments. The long routine was equally difficult, as Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss is a song that can come across as dull if not interpreted properly. Both songs taught him how to make his body language match the notes and changes of the music. At the end of the season, he re-hired Nikolai Morozov as an advisory coach.

Holding a gift from a fan in Sochi
Photograph: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Europe

2012/2013 was the season he became the first Japanese skater to ever win a Grand Prix Final. Unluckily, he missed both the World and Four Continents podium. Part of the problem was his short programme. Initially set to rock 'n' roll music, he changed it mid-season to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Despite it being set to a classical piece, which is something he's always excelled at, Daisuke didn't have enough time to get acquainted with the new routine. The free skate featured the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

His final competitive season (at least for now) bore a regrettable likeness to his first successful one. Once more, Daisuke was in danger of missing the Olympics, this time because he finished the Nationals on fifth place. Luckily, his achievements were enough to convince the Japanese Federation to include him in the team for Sochi. Although he didn't climb the Olympic podium, it was a joy to see him again on Olympic ice. To bring out both sides of his skating persona, the serious, sensitive guy and the rock 'n' roller/latino dancer that raised the roof with his alert routines, he chose two contrasting programmes. The short was set to Sonatina for Violin in C-sharp Minor by Takashi Niigaki, which soon became famous in the media because of one of the greatest plagiarism scandals in history. It turned out the composer the piece had been originally credited to had been using Mr Niigaki's music for the past 18 years. Daisuke kept his programme unchaged as the scandal didn't really have anything to do with him. The Beatles provided the soundtrack for his free skate.

After Sochi, Daisuke decided to take a year off from skating to decide whether he will retire or not. Although what that entails is that there is a chance that he will continue to skate at amateur level, there are certain factors, like his age, that hint to the fact that he will not. Whatever he decides, his status as figure skating star will not change. He is one of the best skaters of his generation and one of the best actors on ice figure skating will ever have. Presently he is taking part in a number of ice shows across the world.