Nobunari Oda (織田 信成, Oda Nobunari; born March 25, 1987) is a Japanese retired competitive figure skater. He is the 2006 Four Continents champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final medalist (silver in 2009 and 2010; bronze in 2006 and 2013), the 2005 World Junior champion and the 2008 Japanese national champion.
Oda introduces himself as a direct descendant of Oda Nobunaga, a daimyō during Japan's Sengoku period who conquered most of Japan.
In April 2010, Oda married his longtime girlfriend, Mayu, and their son, Shintaro, was born on October 1, 2010. Originally scheduled for April 23, 2011, the wedding was postponed due to the rescheduling of the World Championships. Their second son was born on January 5, 2013. A third son was born in early autumn of 2016, and a daughter on October 22, 2019.
Oda trained in Osaka, Japan with Noriko Oda and in Barrie, Ontario with Lee Barkell. He trained in Canada three or four times a year for 1½ months at a time, at the Mariposa School of Skating. He also formerly trained in Hackensack, New Jersey under coach Nikolai Morozov. Oda is known for his jumps and his smooth flow across the ice with deep knee bend.
In the 2001–2002 season, Oda placed 4th at the Japan Junior Championships. He was invited to compete at the senior Japan Championships, where he placed 16th.
Oda made his Junior Grand Prix debut on the 2002–2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. He won the silver medal in Slovakia behind Russian Alexander Shubin, who would go on to win the Junior Grand Prix Final that season. Oda finished 7th at the event in Italy. He won the bronze medal at Japan Junior Championships and was invited to the senior Japan Championships, where he placed 4th.
In the 2003–2004 season, Oda won two medals on the 2003–2004 Junior Grand Prix and qualified for his first and only time to the Junior Grand Prix Final, where he placed 8th. He placed 2nd at Junior Championships and qualified for the team to the 2004 World Junior Championships, where he placed 11th. He placed 5th at the Japan Championships.
In the 2004–2005 season, Oda again competed on the 2004–2005 Junior Grand Prix circuit and won the bronze medal in Ukraine behind compatriot Yasuharu Nanri and American Dennis Phan, both of whom would go on to medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Oda won the Japan Junior Championships and won the bronze medal at Japan Championships. He went on to win the 2005 World Junior Championships.
2005–2007: Senior international debut
Oda turned senior for the 2005-2006 Olympic year, when he was guaranteed a senior Grand Prix assignment after he won the World Junior Championships. Oda made a splash immediately as a senior, winning the bronze medal at his first event and winning the 2005 NHK Trophy over favorites, compatriot Daisuke Takahashi and reigning world bronze medalist Evan Lysacek. Oda qualified for the 2005–2006 Grand Prix Final where he placed fourth.
Takahashi and Oda, the main contenders for Japan's sole men's Olympic spot, both had very good Grand Prix seasons. However, since the selection criteria for the allocation of Olympic spots did not only consider the points calculated from the athletes' top two international competition results of the 2005-2006 season and the 2005–06 Japanese Championships, but also "retained points" from the 2004-2005 season (70% of the athlete's best international competition results), Takahashi was the first choice for the Olympic berth, even if he would not go on to win the final ranking competition, the 2005–06 Japanese Championships.
At the 2005–06 Japanese Championships, Oda was initially declared the winner, but his gold medal was revoked when a glitch in the calculation of scores in the event's computer system was discovered. The reason for the error lay in Oda's first jump combination, a combination of triple Axel, triple toe loop and triple loop. The last jump of the combination, the triple loop, was initially incorrectly identified as a double jump, but was later corrected to an under-rotated triple jump attempt.
This is where the Zayak rule came into play, which says that in a free skate "of all triple and quadruple jumps only two can be executed twice." Oda had executed two triple toe loops and two triple Lutzes, and since he had also executed a triple loop and the loop at the end of his first combination jump was corrected to an under-rotated attempt at another triple, he had executed three triple jumps twice. As a result, the score for the second triple lutz was invalidated. The rankings were reversed and Takahashi was awarded the gold.
However, due to both skaters' strong results during the 2005-2006 season, the Japanese Skating Federation split the international assignments, giving Takahashi the Olympic berth and Oda a place at the World Championships. Oda placed fourth at his first senior World Championships, earning Japan two spots to the 2007 Worlds.
The following season, Oda placed 1st at 2006 Skate America over American Evan Lysacek, and he finished 2nd at the 2006 NHK Trophy to compatriot Daisuke Takahashi. He qualified for the Grand Prix Final and won the bronze medal. At the Japan Championships, Oda won the silver medal for the second consecutive year. He went on to compete at the 2007 Winter Universiade in Torino, Italy, where he won the silver. At the 2007 World Championships, held in Tokyo, Oda once again performed too many combinations and placed 7th overall.
On July 26, 2007, Oda was arrested by the Osaka prefectural police for driving his moped under the influence of alcohol. Oda apologized for this infraction. Due to this incident, Oda was promptly removed from the cast of an upcoming ice show in Japan.
On August 2, 2007, the Japan Skating Federation, itself wracked by scandal, announced that it had suspended Oda from national competition until the end of October and from international competition and exhibitions until the end of December, effectively withdrawing him from his two Grand Prix assignments (Skate Canada and Trophée Eric Bompard), while allowing him to compete at Nationals and try to earn a spot to the 2008 World Championships. The federation also sentenced Oda to perform community service. Oda accepted the punishment meted out by the federation, and paid the fine of ¥100,000.
After sitting out the 2007–2008 Grand Prix season, Oda announced his withdrawal from the Japan Championships on December 24, 2007, citing mental stress.