Kaori Sakamoto: “This time, I truly lost — fairly and squarely. I’ve carried titles like multiple championships and being a favorite to win, but once that cycle gets reset, I feel like I’ll be able to move forward with a clean slate.”
Interview with Kaori Sakamoto.
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. April 9th 2025 by Mie Noguchi
In an Interview posted on Sports Graphic Number Web, Kaori Sakamoto speak about 2025 World Championships. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“Right after my performance, I felt like I did my best, and I cried. Then, when I saw Alysa deliver a perfect performance, I thought, ‘I’ve lost,’ but at the same time, I knew how hard Alysa had worked since her comeback, and that moved me to tears as well,” Sakamoto told.
When the scores were revealed, Sakamoto embraced Alysa, who had secured the victory.
“Up until then, my tears were purely from being moved, but right after saying ‘Congratulations’ and while hugging her, they changed to tears of frustration. Then, the tears that had been trickling turned into a flood. After the happiness came overwhelming frustration, and no matter how much I cried, I couldn’t stop the tears.”
“Alysa and I stood on the podium together during the Olympic season at the World Championships. After taking a break from competition, her comeback and rise to become a world champion is nothing short of incredible. I can only respect the amount of effort and dedication she’s shown.”
Kaori also admitted that the title was repeated over and over in the media, burdening her with immense pressure throughout the season. “There were times when I thought, ‘This title feels so heavy,’ especially when I arrived at a competition or happened to see news online. But I also thought how cool it would be if that ‘3’ could turn into a ‘4,’ so I kept pushing myself.”
“When I first stepped out, I felt wobbly and thought, ‘This is bad nervousness,’” Sakamoto shared about her short progrm at Worlds. “At the moment I prepared for the flip, a wave of anxiety hit me, and that wasn’t good. When it turned into a double, I thought, ‘Oh no,’ but I also figured ‘If I don’t give up, I can still manage a triple.’ So I went for it. In the end, I even received positive GOE, so I think I kept the mistake to a minimum.”
When her score of 71.03 was revealed, she appeared surprised. She started in fifth place, 3.55 points behind the leader. “I thought I would score under 70, so I was surprised to surpass it. I also won last year by overcoming a 3.69-point deficit, so this is within the range of a comeback. If I perform my best in the free skate, the results will follow.”
However, two days later, on the free skate day, she found herself feeling an extreme sense of nervousness even on the bus ride to the venue.
“I was even more nervous than I was for the short program. I felt like crying on the bus. When I arrived at the venue, Sonoko Nakano-sensei said to me, ‘Why do you look so worried?’ and I just burst into tears. It felt like my nerves were completely maxed out.”
Even during the six-minute warmup, she noticed, “My speed was a little slower than usual.” However, “My body felt good, so I thought I’d be able to manage during the actual program.”
Speaking about having a difficult landing from her double axel – euler – triple salchow sequence, Sakamoto told: “The axis was off when I went for the Euler + Salchow, and I was scared, but I thought, ‘I can’t afford to make a mistake here. No matter what, I need to stay on my feet,’ so I held on with all my might.”
As for the crowd’s reaction to her performance, she mentioned: “My music is already exciting and loud, but the cheers from the American audience were even louder. Their applause and encouragement pushed me forward, and I skated hoping that the applause wouldn’t stop until the very end.”
Sakamoto also admitted that it was a tough season for her. “I’ve always had ups and downs with my performance, but this year, from early February, I went through a month and a half of poor form. No matter how much I trained and practiced more than ever, I couldn’t figure out the cause of it, and all I felt was anxiety. My condition finally improved about a week before leaving for the competition, but compared to the ‘one week’ I was doing well, the ‘one and a half months’ of poor form felt so much longer, which added to my unease.”
When asked, “Did the title of three-time champion feel heavy?” Sakamoto replied honestly, “It was pretty heavy.”
To the follow-up question, “Did you feel a bit of relief?” she laughed and said, “A little.” Then she elaborated:
“I’ve carried titles like multiple championships and being a favorite to win, but once that cycle gets reset, I feel like I’ll be able to move forward with a clean slate. Shifting to a position where I’m the one doing the chasing is really significant. Feeling this frustration here will serve as a big motivator heading into the next season.”
“This time, I truly lost — fairly and squarely. That really hit me. It’s not that I’m frustrated about missing out on the gold medal; in the free skate, I delivered my best and earned decent points, yet Alysa delivered such an amazing performance that I lost decisively. That’s what frustrates me.”
When asked, “What if you had achieved four consecutive wins?” she immediately shook her head and answered confidently: “I think the current situation is better as preparation for the Olympics. Now, I’m the one chasing — and I’m thinking, ‘That’s so lucky for me.’ The pressure of multiple consecutive titles is no longer there, and honestly, I think this worked out for the best.”
When asked, “Where does this rank in your life’s biggest crying moments?” she replied:
“This time, I cried so much that it’s definitely in my top three. But tied for first are two moments: when I secured my individual medal at the Beijing Olympics—that was tears of joy. I didn’t know how to stop crying from happiness. The other first place was the 2022 GP Final in Torino. I made so many mistakes in the free skate there, and I cried the most out of frustration. But in terms of how deep the frustration was, this time doesn’t even compare—it was much more intense.” She then grinned mischievously and said: “I’ll update my biggest happy crying moment during the Milan Olympics! I’ll cry a full liter of tears.”
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