Yuma Kagiyama: “I’ve experienced a lot over these four years in terms of how to approach competitions. I believe the Olympics are truly won by those who enjoy them the most.”
Yuma Kagiyama reflects on his journey from winning silver at 18 to competing at the Milan Olympics, where he challenged himself with high-difficulty jumps and delivered standout performances.
original source: number.bunshun.jp dd. 11th March 2026 by Yoshie Noguchi
Four years after winning a silver medal at age 18, Yuma Kagiyama set his sights on the top at the grand stage in Milan.The following is an excerpt from “Fighting the Olympic Demons: Yuma Kagiyama – No Regrets About the Quad Flip.” Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Sports Graphic Number Web.
“I was born in Japan and grew up watching the greats – legends like Midori Ito. I always admired winning an Olympic medal. I think I was able to achieve my own way of winning at the Olympics.”
From the Beijing Olympics to this competition, Kagiyama earned silver in all four categories he entered. What was the secret to his continued success against the so-called “Olympic demons”? He looks back on his journey.
“I’ve experienced a lot over these four years in terms of how to approach competitions. I believe the Olympics are truly won by those who enjoy them the most.”
On the first day of the team event, he cheered on his teammates with all his might, moved to tears by their performances.
“Watching my teammates, with whom I’ve skated for so long, perform at the Olympics brought back so many memories that I couldn’t stop crying.”
“Since arriving in Milan, I’ve really felt things are going smoothly. Maybe I have good chemistry with the Olympics (laughs). I want to keep my senses sharp for the individual event as well.”
Maintaining his good form, Kagiyama entered the individual short program on February 10. In the first half, he earned high marks with a superb quad toe loop and quad salchow. However, he over-rotated the triple axel and stepped out.
“It was like, ‘Oh no, I did it.’ My body was moving so well that I couldn’t control the rotation. There wasn’t much time between official practice and the actual performance, so I was still too sharp and jumped higher than I expected.”
Normally, he would practice in the morning, nap, and then compete at night, but this time, practice was in the evening, leaving no time to rest in the athletes’ village. Still, the mistake wasn’t due to Olympic nerves.
“The Axel wasn’t a mistake to get depressed about. On the contrary, I was really happy to hear the audience clapping during the steps, and I wanted everyoane to leave skipping with joy, so I focused on finishing with a fun vibe.”
Despite the small mistake, he scored a high 103.07 points for second place. When asked by reporters about being 5.09 points behind the leader, he replied with a relaxed expression:
“For me, the gold medal is just an option – something that comes as a result. In the free skate, I’ll be attempting the quad flip for the first time in a while, so my goal is to perform without regrets.”
These were carefully considered words as he headed into the Olympic free skate.
The quad flip was a key strategy for this Olympics. In the two years since becoming Japan’s ace, Kagiyama had experimented with ways to become world champion. His main rival was Malinin, who could perform six types of quads. Last season, Kagiyama practiced the quad flip and lutz in addition to the two quads he could reliably land. However, the more he aimed for first place, the more unstable his results became. Ultimately, this season, he decided to focus on quality by including only two types of quads in both the short and free programs. But after securing his Olympic spot at the Japanese Nationals, he declared to the media:
“I’ll include the quad flip at the Olympics.”
He didn’t consult his father. As the ace challenging his second Olympics, he instinctively decided to add the flip.
Related topics: Olympic Games, Yuma Kagiyama
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