Are the ice skaters in Yuri On Ice based on real life counterparts?


I watched the first few episodes of Yuri On Ice! and my girlfriend who
iceskates said that she thought that the character Yuri Plisetsky really
reminded her of [Yulia
Lipnitskaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Lipnitskaya) in that they
shared similar features and backgrounds.

Are they connected? What about the other characters?




**Yes, most skaters in _Yuri!!! on Ice_ are based on real-life counterparts.**

There are some official sources regarding the model of _Yuri!!! on Ice_ 's
characters. According to [this article](https://tokyogirlsupdate.com/yuri-on-
ice-characters-201611111889.html),

> ### Yuri Plisetsky and Yulia Lipnitskaya
>
> Sharing the same name as the show’s protagonist, fifteen-year-old Yuri is a
> extremely talented and at times foul-mouthed Russian skater. He is making
> his senior debut during the series and is by far one of the youngest skaters
> in the Grand Prix.
>
> **_Yūri!!! on Ice_ 's storyboarder Kubo stated in an interview published in
> [the October issue of
> _PASH_](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/) that Yuri is
> modeled after Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya**. Currently eighteen
> years old, Lipnitskaya is also a young powerhouse skater and the youngest
> skater to ever win a gold at the Olympics at fifteen years old.
>
> ### Victor Nikiforov and Evgeni Plushenko and John Cameron Mitchell
>
> Victor, winner of five consecutive World Championships, Grand Prix, and many
> other competitions, is the rockstar-esque and legendary retired Russian
> figure skater who decided to coach Yūri. With that record, isn’t difficult
> to find discern Victor's potential real life counterpart.
>
> Plushenko, four-time Olympic medalist, three-time World Champion, and four-
> time Grand Prix Final champion, is a legend with an attitude in his own
> right. Notable as well is how Victor rests his forefinger like he is
> signaling "hush" that appears to be a nod to Plushenko hush of the crowd in
> Sochi 2014 Olympics. **However, Victor as Plushenko could be up for debate.
> According to[a tweet from Victor's voice actor Junichi
> Suwabe](https://twitter.com/MY_MURMUR/status/779935081628524544), Plushenko
> is not a model for Victor**. Is Victor so legendary no one in real life can
> touch him?
>
> **Victor is also partially based on American actor John Cameron Mitchell.
> In[a tweet from
> Kubo](https://twitter.com/kubo_3260/status/785169635129696256), when she
> first thought about Victor’s visual design last year, she thought of
> Mitchell, an actor she saw during a trip to New York**.
>
> ### Yūri Katsuki and ???
>
> Who is Yūri's real life counterpart? **[According to
> Kubo](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/), Yūri is not merely
> one Japanese figure skater. Rather, she wanted him to be a character that
> could reflect all Japanese figure skaters and also be appreciated as a
> character on his own**.
>
> However, it is easy to find bits and pieces of other skaters in Yūri. As
> seen in numerous fan made videos, Yūri's short program Eros matches Japanese
> figure skater Yuzuru Hanyū 2014 Sochi Olympic Short Program. Beyond Hanyū,
> figure skater Tatsuki Machida influenced the series and potentially Yūri.
> The retirement of figure skater Tatsuki Machida's retirement partially
> inspired Kubo to create the series and make it successful.
>
> (Emphasis mine)

From Topic Station (Japanese), regarding [Yuri Plisetsky's
model](http://topic-station.com/yuuri-modelrip/),

> When Kubo was interviewed regarding Yuri Plisetsky's voice actor, she
> mentioned a little bit about him,
>

>> Why Russian athletes are difficult to approach, it's because the appeal(?)
is great. When I saw (Yulia) Lipnitskaya, I thought " _If she was a man, it'd
be the best_ ", then directly used her as Yuri's image.

* * *

Nobunari Oda, a Japanese figure skater, requested to participate in the anime.
He appears as a commentator in episode 11 and voiced his own character.

From Oricon News (Japanese), regarding [Nobunari
Oda](http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2082587/full/),

> Oda, who watched the anime every week from episode 1, quickly pleaded, " _I
> want to appear as myself and commentating Yuuri's skate program even only
> for once!_ "

![Nobunari Oda in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jirbYm.png) ![Nobunari Oda at
recording place](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wpCoBm.jpg)

* * *

Stéphane Lambiel, a French commentator in episode 12, was also [a real-life
figure skater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Lambiel). While he
was born in Switzerland, he also speaks French, English, German, and Portugal.
His outfit was also traced from 2016 NHK Trophy.

![Stéphane Lambiel in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MvTYjm.png) ![Stéphane
Lambiel at 2016 NHK Trophy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fzkrXm.png)




**Yes, most skaters in _Yuri!!! on Ice_ are based on real-life counterparts.**

There are some official sources regarding the model of _Yuri!!! on Ice_ 's
characters. According to [this article](https://tokyogirlsupdate.com/yuri-on-
ice-characters-201611111889.html),

> ### Yuri Plisetsky and Yulia Lipnitskaya
>
> Sharing the same name as the show’s protagonist, fifteen-year-old Yuri is a
> extremely talented and at times foul-mouthed Russian skater. He is making
> his senior debut during the series and is by far one of the youngest skaters
> in the Grand Prix.
>
> **_Yūri!!! on Ice_ 's storyboarder Kubo stated in an interview published in
> [the October issue of
> _PASH_](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/) that Yuri is
> modeled after Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya**. Currently eighteen
> years old, Lipnitskaya is also a young powerhouse skater and the youngest
> skater to ever win a gold at the Olympics at fifteen years old.
>
> ### Victor Nikiforov and Evgeni Plushenko and John Cameron Mitchell
>
> Victor, winner of five consecutive World Championships, Grand Prix, and many
> other competitions, is the rockstar-esque and legendary retired Russian
> figure skater who decided to coach Yūri. With that record, isn’t difficult
> to find discern Victor's potential real life counterpart.
>
> Plushenko, four-time Olympic medalist, three-time World Champion, and four-
> time Grand Prix Final champion, is a legend with an attitude in his own
> right. Notable as well is how Victor rests his forefinger like he is
> signaling "hush" that appears to be a nod to Plushenko hush of the crowd in
> Sochi 2014 Olympics. **However, Victor as Plushenko could be up for debate.
> According to[a tweet from Victor's voice actor Junichi
> Suwabe](https://twitter.com/MY_MURMUR/status/779935081628524544), Plushenko
> is not a model for Victor**. Is Victor so legendary no one in real life can
> touch him?
>
> **Victor is also partially based on American actor John Cameron Mitchell.
> In[a tweet from
> Kubo](https://twitter.com/kubo_3260/status/785169635129696256), when she
> first thought about Victor’s visual design last year, she thought of
> Mitchell, an actor she saw during a trip to New York**.
>
> ### Yūri Katsuki and ???
>
> Who is Yūri's real life counterpart? **[According to
> Kubo](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/), Yūri is not merely
> one Japanese figure skater. Rather, she wanted him to be a character that
> could reflect all Japanese figure skaters and also be appreciated as a
> character on his own**.
>
> However, it is easy to find bits and pieces of other skaters in Yūri. As
> seen in numerous fan made videos, Yūri's short program Eros matches Japanese
> figure skater Yuzuru Hanyū 2014 Sochi Olympic Short Program. Beyond Hanyū,
> figure skater Tatsuki Machida influenced the series and potentially Yūri.
> The retirement of figure skater Tatsuki Machida's retirement partially
> inspired Kubo to create the series and make it successful.
>
> (Emphasis mine)

From Topic Station (Japanese), regarding [Yuri Plisetsky's
model](http://topic-station.com/yuuri-modelrip/),

> When Kubo was interviewed regarding Yuri Plisetsky's voice actor, she
> mentioned a little bit about him,
>

>> Why Russian athletes are difficult to approach, it's because the appeal(?)
is great. When I saw (Yulia) Lipnitskaya, I thought " _If she was a man, it'd
be the best_ ", then directly used her as Yuri's image.

* * *

Nobunari Oda, a Japanese figure skater, requested to participate in the anime.
He appears as a commentator in episode 11 and voiced his own character.

From Oricon News (Japanese), regarding [Nobunari
Oda](http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2082587/full/),

> Oda, who watched the anime every week from episode 1, quickly pleaded, " _I
> want to appear as myself and commentating Yuuri's skate program even only
> for once!_ "

![Nobunari Oda in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jirbYm.png) ![Nobunari Oda at
recording place](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wpCoBm.jpg)

* * *

Stéphane Lambiel, a French commentator in episode 12, was also [a real-life
figure skater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Lambiel). While he
was born in Switzerland, he also speaks French, English, German, and Portugal.
His outfit was also traced from 2016 NHK Trophy.

![Stéphane Lambiel in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MvTYjm.png) ![Stéphane
Lambiel at 2016 NHK Trophy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fzkrXm.png)

