Kaori Sakamoto: “At crucial moments, people become stronger the more desperate they become. Hearing that makes me feel I need to be desperate now or else when, and it allows me to push myself further.”
Kaori Sakamoto about the start of her path in figure skating and her coach.
original source: news.yahoo.co.jp dd. 7th October 2024
Kaori Sakamoto (24) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s talk show “Tetsuko’s Room” (TV Asahi) on October 16th. She spoke about her initial experiences starting figure skating at the age of four and shared stories about her journey with her coach. Here’s a translation of her comments.
Last season, Sakamoto won at the Grand Prix Final, and achieved the first three-time consecutive World Championships victory in women’s singles in 56 years. “I had never won the Grand Prix Final before, so I had been aiming for that. When I finally achieved it, I was incredibly happy,” she said with a smile.
When asked about what goes through her mind during performances, Kaori replied, “During my routine, I often talk to ‘myself within myself.’ I think about things like taking a breath here, calming down for a moment… Keeping the same mindset as in practice helps me perform during competitions, so that’s what I think about.”
Answering the question of how she started doing figure skating, Sakamoto mentioned that she started at the age of four after being influenced by a morning drama (the latter part of 2003’s “Teru Teru Kazoku”). “There was a scene where they were skating, and seeing that made me tell my mom I wanted to do it. It just looked so fun to skate,” she recalled. “When I first started, I fell down more often than not. But even when I fell, I kept laughing and really enjoyed it!”
Sakamoto has been coaching by Sonoko Nakano since she was four years old. “There is nothing stronger than sheer determination,” a phrase from her coach, has been her support. “At crucial moments, people become stronger the more desperate they become. Hearing that makes me feel I need to be desperate now or else when, and it allows me to push myself further.”
She also recalled am incident during her fisrt Olympics.The host asked, “I heard you were taken in an ambulance once, during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games?”
“After the team event, we had practice in the evening. Between those times, I started feeling an intense stomach pain which kept getting worse. I somehow managed to practice, but afterward, the pain was so severe I was sweating cold,” she recalled, describing a sudden bout of abdominal pain. “Eventually, it seemed like it wouldn’t get better unless I went to a hospital outside the Olympic Village, so I was taken by ambulance and received various treatments. I managed to recover and was healthy by the time of the individual competition,” Kaori said, explaining that she was able to compete in the next event thanks to the treatment.
When asked about the cause, she explained with a wry smile, “It was due to extreme tension, and then I ate something very greasy, which caused my stomach pain.”
Regarding the next Olympics, 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo she said, “If I can participate, I want to achieve better results than in the previous Beijing Olympics. I want to make this season a stepping stone to the Olympic season, cherishing each and every competition.”
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