Kaori Sakamoto: “I was practicing the whole time, yet my condition wouldn’t improve. I got stuck in this negative cycle. The sense of panic I felt this year was completely different from what I experienced last year.”
Kaori Sakamoto about winning silver at the 2025 World Championships.
original source: Nikkansports dd. March 31st 2025 by Wataru Matsumoto
Kaori Sakamoto spoke about her performance at the 2025 World Championships. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Nikkansports.
In the interview a day after her performance in the free program, Kaori Sakamoto shared: “Even after I got home yesterday, I kept rewatching my performance, and the warmth of all the messages I received from so many people kept me in tears. I was thinking to myself, “When will I stop crying?” but no matter what I looked at, I just kept crying. I cried until I fell asleep, and this morning, I was surprised that my eyes weren’t swollen.” She also shared that the emotion that stands out the most now is “frustration.”
Interviewer asked her “You mentioned yesterday that this was the most frustrated you’ve ever felt. How is it different from moments like the 2022 Grand Prix Final?” and Kaori replied:
“It’s hard to put into words. For example, at Skate Canada this season, I didn’t feel fully comfortable with my free skate, and I knew I hadn’t practiced enough leading into the competition. The mistakes I made were within my expectations, and considering how my training sessions had gone up until then, it made sense. Of course, that was frustrating in its own way, but this time felt entirely different.
Starting from early February, just before the Winter Asian Games, and lasting about a month and a half — even up to a week before departure — my condition was awful. It was the worst I’ve ever experienced, to the point where I asked myself, “How could I be in such bad shape at this time of the season?” I couldn’t figure out the cause. Despite putting in more training and practice than ever, my condition didn’t improve, and I felt nothing but anxiety. Finally, about a week before I left, my condition started to pick up, and I was able to push myself.
But still, the month and a half of feeling anxious really weighed on me. Even though I knew in that one week I could pull myself together if I just decided to go for it, it was overshadowed by the long period of insecurity. That uncertainty affected both the short program and the free skate, making this competition emotionally exhausting.”
Speaking about coming into this competition as a champion for the past two years and thus having an additional pressure, Sakamoto said: “Last year, right before the competition, I got influenza and couldn’t train at all. My physical condition took a hit — my stamina and muscle strength declined. By the time there were only 10 days left until departure, I just thought, “I can only do what I can,” and “If I’ve had this much rest, I just have to go for it.” In a way, that made it easier to deal with — it was like starting from zero. I just rebuilt my body and went for it.
But this time, I was practicing the whole time, yet my condition wouldn’t improve. I got stuck in this negative cycle where I felt like I couldn’t find a way out. The sense of panic I felt this year was completely different from what I experienced last year.”
Related topics: Kaori Sakamoto, world championship
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