Mone Chiba is a 16-year-old figure skater providing hope for her hometown Sendai, which has given birth to two of the sport's biggest stars, Olympic gold medalists Yuzuru Hanyu and Shizuka Arakawa.Chiba qualified for the four-day national championships at Saitama Super Arena beginning Thursday via last month's junior nationals, where she finished third in the women's singles.The Tohoku High School student grew up idolizing Hanyu and had several opportunities to interact with her childhood hero at their home rink in Sendai in northeastern Japan, playing tag and playing around on the ice afte…READ FULL ARTICLE
