The Japanese Kaori Sakamoto will enter the history books of figure skating for her three victories at the world championships. But this story will have an important nuance

Surprisingly, Kaori Sakamoto has skated with Zagitova and Medvedeva before. But no big title reached him. Time passed and in 2022 the ISU decided to impose sanctions on the skaters of the Russian national team. It was then that the path to medals opened for the Japanese. That she would never have won before or after in her career.

Additionally, the first “bell” for Sakamoto came at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. After the team tournament, Kamila Valieva was openly bullied and she could not resist this pressure, putting in a poor performance in the free skate. Sakamoto received an Olympic medal and, a few months later, the title of world champion.

It was her and Luna Hendricks who were the two skaters constantly behind the Russians. And in recent years, the Japanese has simply chained titles one after the other practically “for free”. The victories come to him, but his level of skating is just to accept it and cry.

Moreover, in December 2023, when Kaori was asked a direct question about show jumping, the world champion became angry. How dare they, the world champion, blame her for her lack of quadruples?

“Sometimes people ask, ‘Why are you a world champion if you don’t jump a triple Axel or a quadruple jump?’ If people want to see big jumps, I don’t think they should watch my performances. I don’t like it when people say that,” the Japanese athlete said during the Grand Prix final.

Now imagine the phrase that conditional Alena Kostornaya says in the face of Eteri Tutberidze, no, well, okay, Anna Shcherbakova or Kamila Valieva? A terrible image appears in a second.

The Japanese Sakamoto could even say that if you don’t like the world champion without ultra-si, don’t look! Well, apparently, the reward in the form of fourth place in the short program of the 2024 World Cup is the Japanese woman’s reward for her long tongue.

Who was Kaori Sakamoto before 2022? She won the Four Continents Championship and finished fifth or sixth at the world championships. After all, there was a time when there was a lot of talk about Rika Kihira being the new best figure skater on the Japanese team (remember that one???). Even at Nationals, things have improved for Kaori since the 21/22 season.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Sakamoto essentially got a bronze medal for free. Because everyone collectively decided to hunt down Kamila Valieva, who ultimately ruined her race. Being on the Russian pedestal in Beijing-22. But no: for the Japanese, this award was in fact the first and most important of her career.

But then what happened happened: those who were strongest were eliminated. And the Japanese figure skater became the best in the world. Three times in a row. No new wonderful Japanese, Korean or American women have appeared on the horizon. Luna Hendrix? As soon as he comes to a serious tournament, he immediately falls. The Belgian is known for her chronic falling asleep at the most crucial moments of major competitions.

And so, the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto won the world championship three times. And in December, yes, there was a line that “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it” on a show without quads or trixels. But after three gold medals at the world championships, the Japanese athlete says she is working on the quad. She says that when the Russians come back, she will have to skate even better.

— I don’t have a specific preparation program, I work on jumping on the days when I feel strong enough to do it. I don’t set big goals for myself, I rather say to myself: “What if I tried to make one more revolution today?” says Kaori Sakamoto in an interview with Sports.

In fact, the Japanese are already trying to lay the foundations to try to compete with them when the Russian girls return. Because he knows who has the power.

Well in the meantime, Kaori Sakamoto will of course enter the history books of figure skating for her three victories at the world championships. But this story will have an important nuance. The world’s strongest have not skated at the world championships these three seasons.