Photo Credit Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
By Grace Knoop
A California native, Team USA figure skater Goku Endo always dreamed of attending the University of California, Los Angeles — one of the most prestigious universities in the country. As a high school student, he decided he would end his skating career if he got into UCLA.
“I told my parents that if I get into UCLA specifically, I’m going to focus on my education and be done with skating,” Endo said.
But after a UCLA admission letter made his dream come true, his retirement was short-lived when he was introduced to the UCLA figure skating team. Endo found a new skating community and a new mindset that resurrected his competitive skating career. After joining the UCLA figure skating team, Endo was selected to compete for Team USA during the 2023-24 season for the first time in five years, and he did so while carrying a full-time pre-med course load — a challenging task for any college student.
“I’m deeper into the figure skating world, I think, than before,” Endo said. “In my first year [at UCLA], I really started to enjoy skating for myself, it wasn’t for my parents or my coaches.”
Photo credit Getty Images
While collegiate skating opened Endo’s perspective on the sport, it is his grandfather, who is battling leukemia in Japan, who has inspired him to continue competing. Endo finds a greater purpose through his grandfather, dedicating his skating to him and working toward competing in Japan one day, to show his grandfather how far he has come.
“It feels nice to dedicate my work to someone else, because I don’t put pressure on myself,” Endo said.
Endo devoted this past season to his grandfather and even sent him the first-place trophy from the 2023 Kings Cup International, Endo’s first international win.
The goal of competing in Japan with his grandfather in the stands motivates Endo through his unusually long skating season. Endo will start at the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships this month and — pending the qualification of UCLA to the 2025 National Intercollegiate Final — will continue through April, making Endo’s skating season as long as 10 months.
Doing all this and keeping up with a rigorous course load is no easy task. But Endo has found the advantage in competing regularly, allowing him to experiment with different tricks to deal with his nerves during competitions, a particular obstacle for him.
“I’m trying to find ways that I’m most comfortable in competition, trying different methods. Maybe listening to music, maybe meditating, talking to friends, seeing what works for me,” Endo said. “It’s like a little experiment phase for me.”
Endo has used his long season to his advantage and has taken the lessons learned on the collegiate level to larger-scale competitions. In addition to being back on the international stage, Endo has punched his ticket to the past two U.S. Championships as a senior competitor, placing in the top 10 last season in Columbus, Ohio.
The U.S. Collegiate Championships is one of the season’s most exciting events, with competitors and fans bringing an infectious energy to the building each year, a feeling similar to the senior men’s event at the Intercollegiate Finals.
“I think the excitement in the air is really similar to nationals where it’s like everyone’s waiting for a jump, and someone does a jump and there’s a big cheer, and then you keep going,” Endo said.
His first Intercollegiate Final was at Adrian (Mich.) College in 2022, his freshman year. The arena was standing-room-only and had an energy reminiscent of what Endo experienced at his last two U.S. Championships.
“It was crazy,” Endo said. “At the men’s event, everyone was up and yelling and screaming. I look back to those videos once in a while and I just say, ‘That was insane!’”
Collegiate skating breathed fresh air into Endo’s competitive skating career, surprising and delighting him with where his skating has taken him.
“I didn’t think I would get this far in figure skating,” he said.
And he’s not done yet. Endo’s season is just about to begin at the U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships in Richfield, Minnesota, where he hopes to win his fourth medal at the U.S. Collegiate Championships. He had medaled at the last three editions of the event, including gold in the junior event in 2021, and hopes his continued success leads to competing in Japan one day for his grandfather.
“I can’t give up on skating yet,” Endo said. “That’s what I’m working toward.”
Goku Endo will compete at the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships and Invitational July 19-21 in Richfield, Minnesota. For more information on the event, and to follow Endo, visit www.uscollegiatechampionships.com.
