Aiming for 'ultimate skate' at Milano Cortina 2026, world champion Sakamoto Kaori adjusts to role as 'the chased' - Exclusive
The two-time and reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medallist from Japan opens up on what makes her tick – and why it's important for her to just be herself.
Figure Skating
When two-time and reigning world figure skating champion Sakamoto Kaori recently sat down with Olympics.com for an exclusive interview, the room quieted down as the Olympic bronze medallist began to answer questions.
Then, a phone began to ring.
“Oh!” Sakamoto laughed, stopping herself mid-answer and looking towards the phone, which was mounted on wall in the opposite corner of the room.
When a producer (that would be yours truly) unplugged the phone’s cord to silence it, Sakamoto’s eyes widened in faux shock. “Ohhhhhh!” she said again, laughing more and thoroughly entertained.
A ripple of laughter made its way through her team and the producers.
The 23-year-old, known in skating for her infectious personality, can make light of nearly anything.
It’s one of her many talents.
“Being cheerful, bringing energy and having fun... it’s just who I am,” Sakamoto says via a Japanese interpreter during our sit-down. “I’m not trying to force anything; it naturally comes out of me. [But] sometimes when I get out of control people have to stop me.
“But life’s more fun when you’re being yourself,” she adds. “And if that brings a smile to others, it makes me happy, too.”
Sakamoto Kaori: On her journey to 'the one being chased'
Sakamoto has brought plenty of smiles to her fans’ faces in her now seven years as a senior skater, the Japanese star making her Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018 at age 17.
It was a learning experience for the teen in what was her first full senior season internationally. What for many is a career crescendo – qualifying for an Olympic Games – for Sakamoto instead was a steppingstone moment; PyeongChang was where she would learn what it takes to be among the best.
“I knew nothing and jumped into a world I never experienced before,” she explains of those few weeks. “I only saw what was before me, desperate to just keep up. ... Most people were older than me and I worked hard to catch up with them.”
Over five years removed, Sakamoto is now twice a world champion. She reflects on that first Olympic foray as one that shaped her, but in due time.
“Now I’m the one being chased,” she reflects. “There was a time when that got to me, but now I’m comfortable enough to see it as a sign of growth.”
Sakamoto shifts her mentality after two world titles
Transitioning to being said chased skater has not been easy for Sakamoto – even if she’s one of the fastest in the sport.
“Last year when I won the world championships and [the Worlds before that in 2022], I didn’t feel particularly great,” Sakamoto admits. “I felt boxed in [and] didn’t get the feeling that I skated well.
“I managed to win two [world titles] in a row, but felt suffocated doing it. That’s how I approached the world championships, [but] the results spared me.”
Or rather Sakamoto earned just what she deserved: Back-to-back world titles, the second coming in front of a packed arena of adoring home fans in Saitama, Japan, when an error in her free skate leading her to believe she had lost her world title.
She retained it by some 3.5 points over Lee Hae-in, the silver medallist.
After becoming the first Japanese skater to win back-to-back world titles (Uno Shoma would match that feat the following day), Sakamoto felt the weight of the world lifted off her shoulders.
At the urging of organisers, Kaori took a literal “victory lap” around Saitama Super Arena during a break in sessions for the ice dance free dance. She sprinted around the venue’s lower walkway, fans screaming towards her, arms outreached.
She was beaming – with the biggest smile you can imagine spread across her face. Sakamoto Kaori in her element.
'I want to have the ultimate skate in Milano'
At the outset of the 2023-24 season Sakamoto received her college diploma. She had graduated from university (studying business administration) and made her next goals clear to the Japanese media: “I aim for a three-peat at Japanese Nationals and the World Championships,” she said plainly.
Worlds this season is set for Montreal, Canada, and while Sakamoto is aiming for the top of the podium once again, her main focus is that of the coming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“After Beijing, I saw Milano four years down the road and I’m right in the middle of preparing for it, year-by-year,” she said.
Adding: “I want to have the ultimate skate at the Olympics in Milano.”
Since the 2022 Games, she’s trialled different choreographers (Marie-France Dubreuil has done her free skate each of the last two seasons), and also her style, skating to the likes of Janet Jackson, Sia and – this season – Lauryn Hill.
“Four years flies by,” she said. “The first year [after the Olympics] was going to be a season of challenges... so I tried a very different short program [Janet Jackson]. I saw it as a chance to do things I hadn’t done.”
“This season has been kind of similar to that,” she continued. “Next year and the year after, I want to be at the top of my game. I’m dedicating this season so that I can get there.”