Kaori Sakamoto, the Japanese figure skater who won silver at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics and the gold medal at the World Championships, held her retirement press conference in Kobe on May 13. As the first Japanese woman to compete in three consecutive Winter Games – starting with PyeongChang 2018 – Sakamoto was asked to sum up the Olympics in one word. After a moment’s thought, she answered: “Defense.”
Reflecting on her Olympic journey, Sakamoto admitted, “In those competitions, the feeling of ‘I don’t want to make a mistake here’ was always the strongest. I think I ended all three Games without being able to fully attack.” She first stepped onto the Olympic stage at age 17, and from the Beijing 2022 Games onward, she collected medals in both the team and individual events across two consecutive Olympics. At the Milano Cortina Games, she led Japan by securing two silver medals.
