From Yomiuri.

"Yukina Ota - Working on presentation, she makes a come back.
With right foot (leg?) injury, learned how to entertain in US ice shows.
Her goal is Vancouver Olympics."

Yukina Ota (19yrs old, Doshisha Univ.), known for her fine presentation has returned to the Japanese figure skating scene. After winning the 2003 World Junior Championships, injury has barred her for 2 seasons. Although this long absence has forced her to go back to regional competitions, she has her eyes set on Vancouver Olympics.

Moves filled with sensitivity to her fingertips and beautiful skating. Ota's performance is different from the other jump-oriented Japanese skaters. She won 4CC in her senior debut year and was definitely one of the skaters competing for Turin.

However, in the summer of 2004, her already injured right ankle worsened. She was diagnosed as "bone inflammation", the same symptom Shinji Ono (Japanese football player) suffered. It was because she pushed herself too hard on jump training - her weakness. Ota was devastated. She even thought of quitting the sport.

Last spring(2005), taking advice from the people around her, Ota went to Colorado Springs. There, she started training ice dance, no jumps and no pressure on her injured leg. In October, she was invited to an ice show in New York. During the 3 weeks among top class skaters and choreographers, little by little, she became positive. "I might regret if I quit now."

On 29th July (2006), Ota performed a gorgeous program at the Nobeyama exhibition camp. She will have to compete in Regionals in order to qualify for 2007 Tokyo Worlds. While her fans are eager for her success, Ota is low-key. "This season is to go out and compete, and no big injury." However, she also added "I saw (Shizuka) Arakawa-san's Turin performance. If you're a figure skater, you have to work hard to get to the Olympics."