Takahashi Daisuke announces retirement from ice dance, ending legendary figure skating career
The Japanese skater shared the news alongside partner Muramoto Kana. He was a trailblazer in the sport as the first man to win an Olympic medal or world title before transitioning to dance.
Figure Skating
The legendary figure skating career of Takahashi Daisuke is over.
The Vancouver 2010 bronze medallist in singles and 2010 world champion was a trailblazer in his two-decade-long career, winning Japan's first Olympic medal in men's skating before capturing the world title - another first for a Japanese male, just weeks later.
Retiring after a sixth-place finish at Sochi 2014, Takahashi made a stunning return in 2018 to singles - and then in 2019 to ice dance, becoming the first elite-level skater to make the transition from singles to that discipline.
He and partner Muramoto Kana fell short of their goal to qualify for Beijing 2022, but made two trips to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, capped off wth a crowd-wowing 11th-place finish at Worlds this year on home ice in Saitama.
"I feel immense joy we performed so well amid all that pressure," Takahashi told Olympics.com exclusively at the conclusion of Worlds. "I’m glad I decided to come back. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to savour any of this. I still feel the buzz."
Takhashi Daisuke's legacy: Hanyu, Uno and Kagiyama
Takahashi helped usher in a golden era of men's skating for Japan which still continues today, including Hanyu Yuzuru's two Olympic gold medals as well as podium finishes at the Games for Uno Shoma and Kagiyama Yuma.
The team has started to flex its muscles beyond its historically strong suit of singles skating with Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi becoming world pairs champions this year.
Takahashi has now retired for a second time, but this time for good aged 37.
In addition to his Vancouver bronze and 2010 world title, Takahashi won world silver in 2007 and 2012 while capturing the elite Grand Prix Final later in 2012.
He is a five-time national champion in men's singles, and this season Muramoto and him captured the Japanese national title for a first time in ice dance. He skated competitively one final time at World Team Trophy last month, helping Japan to a third-place finish in Tokyo.
Muramoto and Takahashi told fans on their Instagram that they will be on live Tuesday (2 May) for a special broadcast.