Sakamoto Kaori on mission accomplished at Worlds: 'The three-peat was something I targeted all year' - Exclusive
The Japanese star opens up on what it means to go three-from-three, how she sees her standing among Japan’s female skating greats, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games – and more.
Figure Skating
Even after she secured the first three-peat by any woman at a World Figure Skating Championships since Peggy Fleming in 1968, Sakamoto Kaori remained uncertain of her standing in the sport’s history.
“Even now, it hasn’t sunk in yet, and I don’t think it will while I’m [still] competing,” Sakamoto said via an interpreter when asked by Olympics.com how she feels being among some of the Japanese greats she once looked up to.
With three world titles, an individual Olympic bronze and a seven-year (and growing) CV on the international circuit, she’s now alongside Olympic medallists Ito Midori and Asada Mao, and Torino 2006 champion Arakawa Shizuka.
“I wonder how much of this will remain whenever it is that I walk away,” the 23-year-old asks aloud, then adding, “I am proud to be mentioned in the same breath as those names. The work I put in until now has led to good results, which makes me really happy.”
It also makes her the skater to beat after Montreal marked the halfway point to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, a date she’s well aware of.
“It’ll wear me out if I think about it every day,” Sakamoto admitted, laughing. “But it is there in the larger scheme of things, so I think about what it is that I can do on a daily basis. Like how the practice now will impact what I do in the future
“I do think about things like that, and for the next competition I try to apply what I took away. Then naturally it will lead to good things at the Olympics.”
Sakamoto Kaori: 'Life is good'
What exactly will Sakamoto take from these World Championships? She showed just how deep her fight is, bouncing back from fourth place in the short when the tension she has spoken about previously clearly impacted her skating.
But she remained determined after that disappointment, saying bluntly: "On Friday [in the free skate] I will make sure that I have a very great skate."
It was something, she said several times, she had been working towards and aiming for all season long: “The three-peat was something I targeted from the outset of this year,” she said of her golden goal. “I’m really happy to have achieved it.”
Happiness is something Sakamoto appears to have chosen in a competitive life that can otherwise be pressure-filled and stressful. She dedicated her short program this season to her niece and nephew, saying their presence in her life often offer a respite from the daily rigours of training.
Outside of her programs, she has become a singular, joyful force in figure skating: To know Sakamoto the person is to appreciate her zest for life... and want to laugh – a lot.
Where does that come from? We ask. She smiles, unsurprisingly.
“Life is good. Right now, everything is fulfilling,” she responds. “But more often than not, things don’t work out the way I want them to. [Life is] full of accidents and troubles, but that’s how I get a laugh out of each day: I try to turn all the negatives into a positive. And I can’t get enough of that.”
'The big goal is the Olympics'
But don’t mis-read her: Sakamoto is as determined as they come.
That is shown by her remaining unbeaten in competition since her fifth place at the 2022 Grand Prix Final in Turin where she came undone in the free skate.
Sakamoto was six-of-six at international events this year, and won a third consecutive (and fourth overall) Japanese national title against a field that continues to be strong year to year.
And while she does not think about the Winter Olympics daily, there is a plan in place – and she has goals for 2026, too.
“The big goal is the Olympics two years down the road; everything I do now is with that in mind,” she says. “Winning three in a row [at Worlds] is something I can build on.
“All that I experienced this past season I can apply going forward. I had good times and a good experience. It was that kind of season.”