Japanese figure skater (born 1986)
 is a retired Japanese figure skater (men's singles and ice dance) and ice show producer. As a singles skater, he is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2010 World champion, the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2008, 2011) Four Continents champion, and a five-time (2006–2008, 2010, 2012) Japanese national champion.
Takahashi represented Japan at the 2006 Winter Olympics, 2010 Winter Olympics, and 2014 Winter Olympics. His bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics was the first Olympic medal for an Asian country in the men's singles event. He was also the first Asian man to win a World title at the 2010 World Championships. At the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final, Takahashi made history again as the first Asian man to win a gold medal in the event, an addition to his previous accomplishment of being the first Japanese man to medal at the event in 2005.
Takahashi retired on October 14, 2014, but returned to competitive skating on July 1, 2018. After two seasons competing domestically in Japan, Takahashi began a career in ice dance partnered with Kana Muramoto beginning in the 2020–21 season. With Muramoto he is the 2022 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2022-23 Japanese national champion and the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge champion. Takahashi is the first and at present only competitor to have earned medals at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in two different disciplines. 
Although he has struggled with the lingering effects of an anterior cruciate ligament rupture since 2008, his senior career spanned 16 seasons in singles skating and ice dance combined, which is well above the average senior career length in any discipline in the era of the ISU Judging System.
Takahashi, who is not only a pioneer of men's singles skating in Japan and Asia, but also known and admired for his outstanding musicality, expressiveness and versatility as well as his unique style, has been and frequently continues to be cited as an inspiration and idol by his peers such as Patrick Chan, Tatsuki Machida, Adam Rippon or Tomáš Verner as well as by skaters of younger generations such as Shoma Uno, Denis Ten, Cha Jun-hwan, Jason Brown, Misha Ge or Kazuki Tomono. 
Outside of the competitive field Takahashi has been a key individual in innovating the Japanese ice show market by headlining "Hyoen", a new cross-genre show format (combining several genres, such as kabuki and the Takarazuka Revue with figure skating). In January 2023, he made his debut as a producer/director with "Ice Explosion 2023". In addition to performing in ice shows, he has also appeared as a dancer in Cheryl Burke's stage production "Love on the Floor".
Career.
Early career.
Born in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, Takahashi began figure skating when he was eight years old. When a skating rink was built near his house, he went with his mother to watch the skaters at the rink and, afterward, enrolled in the figure skating club. His mother intended for him to enroll in the ice hockey club, but he did not like the protective gear of ice hockey and enrolled instead in the figure skating club.
Takahashi had a successful junior career, winning the 2002 World Junior Championships in his first and only appearance at that competition. Takahashi is the first Japanese man to have won the title.
Senior career.
Senior debut.
For the 2002–03 season, Takahashi turned senior. He struggled with consistency during the first few years of his senior career. In 2004, he moved to Osaka to attend university – the university built a rink for him and other elite skaters.
Takahashi won a bronze medal at the 2005 Four Continents Championships and went on to the 2005 World Championships as the second-ranked of the two Japanese men on the World team, after Takeshi Honda. However, when Honda was forced to withdraw due to injury, it fell on Takahashi to qualify spots for Japan at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Takahashi placed 15th, qualifying only one spot for the Japanese men.
2005–06 season.
In the 2005–06 season, Nobunari Oda emerged as a challenger for the Olympic spot. Oda and Takahashi both had very good Grand Prix seasons. At the 2005–06 Japanese Championships, Oda was declared the winner and, thus, seemed to have qualified for the one Olympic slot, but his gold medal was quickly taken back when an error was found in the way scores were calculated in the computer system at the event; Takahashi was awarded the gold. The Japanese Skating Federation split the international assignments, giving Takahashi the Olympic berth and Oda a place at the World Championship. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Takahashi was in a good position after the short program but had a poor free skate and placed 8th overall.
2006–07 season.
In the 2006–07 competitive season, Takahashi won a silver medal at 2006 Skate Canada International, then gold at the 2006 NHK Trophy. He qualified for the Grand Prix Final and won the silver medal, although he was ill. He won the Japanese Championships, taking the national title for the second year in a row, and then went on to the Winter Universiade in Turin, Italy, which he won as well.
Takahashi placed third in the short program at the 2007 World Championships. In free skating, he skated the performance of his life in his home country, placing first in that segment and ending up winning the silver medal, trailing Brian Joubert narrowly. This was the first silver medal for Japan in the men's event at Worlds.
Following that season, the ISU ranked Takahashi first in the world. However, over the summer, the ISU tweaked its scoring criteria. Takahashi had been placed on top, just ahead of Brian Joubert, partly due to Takahashi's victory at the Winter Universiade, a competition for which Brian Joubert was not eligible, as Joubert was not a university student. The ISU determined that the results of the Winter Universiade could not be used to calculate world ranking, and Takahashi's ranking fell from first to second place.
2007–08 season.
In the 2007–08 season, he won gold at both his Grand Prix events and then silver at the Grand Prix Final behind Stéphane Lambiel. A few weeks later, he won his third Japanese national title and was named to the Four Continents and Worlds teams.
Takahashi won the 2008 Four Continents Championships, scoring a new record in free skating (175.84) and in the total score (264.41) under the ISU Judging System.
He was considered a favorite heading into the 2008 World Championships but finished off the podium after a disappointing free skating in which he fell on his second quad toe attempt, then stumbled on a triple Axel and triple loop, and, finally, performed an extra combination, an invalid element, which did not count towards his points total.
In May 2008, Takahashi announced that he had parted ways with Nikolai Morozov, who had been his co-coach for several years in Hackensack, New Jersey. Morozov explained the split by stating that he could no longer coach Takahashi due to problems with Takahashi's new agent. Takahashi continued training under coach Utako Nagamitsu and jump coach Takeshi Honda in Osaka, Japan.
2008–09 season.
Takahashi was originally assigned to the 2008 Cup of China and the 2008 NHK Trophy for the 2008–09 Grand Prix season. He had to withdraw after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee on October 31, 2008, only a few days before his first event. It was later reported that Takahashi would undergo surgery to repair ligament damage and his right meniscus and would miss the entire 2008–09 season. A bolt was inserted into his right knee. He was able to return to the ice in April and began practicing jumps in June.
2009–10 season.
After recovering from the surgery and returning to training normally, Takahashi began the Olympic season at the 2009 Finlandia Trophy, which he won. For the Grand Prix season, he was assigned to compete at the 2009 Skate Canada International and 2009 NHK Trophy for the 2009–10 season. He placed second at Skate Canada and fourth at the NHK Trophy. Those placements qualified him to compete in the Grand Prix Final. At the final, he led after the short program with a new personal best of 89.95 but was fifth in free skating and fifth overall.
He won his fourth national title at the 2009–10 Japanese Championships. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Takahashi won the bronze medal with a score of 247.43. It is the first Olympic medal to be won by Japan in men's figure skating. He then won the gold medal at 2010 World Championships, becoming the first Asian to win a world championship in men's singles. At this competition, Takahashi attempted a quadruple flip but underrotated the jump and two-footed the landing.
2010–11 season.
Takahashi's 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix events were the NHK Trophy and Skate America. At the 2010 NHK Trophy, he placed first with 234.79 points, 16.60 ahead of silver medalist Jeremy Abbott. Takahashi also won 2010 Skate America despite having a flawed short program and free skating. During a practice session at the Grand Prix Final, Takahiko Kozuka inadvertently collided with him while Takahashi was doing his run-through; Takahashi said, "it wasn't such a serious injury, just a bit of bruising. [...] It was the first time for me (to be involved in such an accident). I was surprised, but there was no malice involved." Takahashi placed third in short program. In free skating, he attempted a quad flip but landed it two-footed. Multiple problems, including low levels on two spins, resulted in a sixth-place finish in that segment, dropping him to fourth overall.
Takahashi won the bronze medal at the 2010–11 Japanese Championships. Takahashi won the 2011 Four Continents Championships. At the 2011 World Championships, he was third in the short program but finished in fifth overall. In free skating, a screw in his boot came loose on his first element, a quad toe. The Japanese team was able to get it fixed within the three minutes allowed, and he resumed his program. He said it may occur at any time regardless of inspections, which his coach does every day, and he does not blame her. On May 19, Takahashi underwent surgery to remove a bolt in his right knee stemming from surgery in late 2008. Following the surgery, he said, "It is thinner around my knee, but I feel better now that there is nothing inside my body. I might be imagining it, but it feels lighter."
2011–12 season.
As part of his preparation for the 2011–12 season, Takahashi spent two weeks in August 2011 working with ice dancing specialists Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, Romain Haguenauer, and Olivier Schoenfelder in Lyon, France, to hone his skating skills. He said, "I wanted to improve my skating technique, not because I was bad in this sector, but I think Olivier is the best. I love the way he skates."
At 2011 Skate Canada International, Takahashi earned a score of 84.66 in the short program and 153.21 in free skating to win the bronze medal with a combined score of 237.87. At the 2011 NHK Trophy, he earned a new personal best score of 90.43 to take the lead in the short program, with a 10.66 point lead over teammate Takahiko Kozuka. He won the gold medal with a combined total of 259.75 points and qualified for the Grand Prix Final. He finished second at the Final. At the Japanese Championships, Takahashi was first after the short program with a score of 96.05 and placed third in free skating, scoring 158.38 points. With a total score of 254.60, he won his fifth national title, finishing ahead of Takahiko Kozuka and Yuzuru Hanyu, and was selected to compete at the 2012 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. The French crowd believed he deserved the gold medal over Patrick Chan, who had mistakes, including a fall on a double Axel, and booed the final result. Takahashi stated that he was pleased with the result, which he had not expected after his off-season surgery. Takahashi finished the season at the 2012 World Team Trophy. He set new personal best scores in the short program, free skating, and overall, and finished first in the men's event. His short program score, 94.00, set a new record as the highest ever under the ISU Judging System. It was Takahashi's first win over Patrick Chan since the 2010 World