Japanese skater Mone Chiba sprains right ankle ahead of Grand Prix season

Japanese figure skater Mone Chiba sprained her right ankle in July 2026, during the off-season build-up to the new competitive year. The injury came at a sensitive time, when skaters normally refine new programs and prepare for their first events.

The sprain limited the number of competitions she could enter before the Grand Prix series, the international circuit of senior events that opens the autumn season. Details of the exact cause and the length of her recovery were not widely detailed, and her schedule was adjusted around the injury.

The ankle problem mattered because it shaped how prepared she was for her Grand Prix assignments, including the China Cup. When she later led the short program there, the earlier injury remained part of the story, as questions about her physical condition followed her into the event.