Kaori Sakamoto is a successful 25-year-old figure skater. The young athlete has gone to the Olympics three times and has won four Olympic medals. She started skating at a young age and built upon her talent and skill. The 2026 Olympics were her swan song to skating.
Kaori began skating when she was just three years old and has been training ever since. The people who coached her throughout the years are Mitsuko Graham, Sei Kawahara and Sonoko Nakano.
Her first significant win was during the 2014-15 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Sakamoto was just a teenager when she competed. She placed sixth over all and won a silver medal. She could not continue to the senior level because of her age.
She competed in the same competition in 2016 and 2017. She scored 177.34, winning silver at the event in St. Gervais, France. Her next event was held in Yokohama, in her home country of Japan. There, she scored 187.5, earning a gold medal and destroying her competition. She then qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final.
At Finals, she faced Alina Zagitova and Anastasiia Gubanova. Sakamoto won third overall, placing behind her competitors and earning a bronze medal.
Her first full senior season began in 2017. She competed in the Asian Figure Skating Trophy and ended up winning gold, placing first in both portions of the competition. Her next competition was the U.S. Classic, where she placed fourth overall. She was ranked fifth in the first segment and fourth in the free-skate.
Towards the end of her season, she competed in the Japan Figure Skating Championships, where she was ranked fourth and won a silver medal,
This was her first national medal of her first senior season.
After her achievement, the Japan Skating Federation named her a part of Japan’s team for the 2018 Winter Olympics. In the female free-skate portion of the national competition that year, Kaori placed fifth individually and overall for team Japan.
She made it to the Olympics again in 2021-22, this time held in Beijing. She placed second in the women’s free-skate portion. This helped Team Japan place third that year, winning bronze, Sakamoto’s first Olympic medal.
Her final season took place this last year and to finish off her career, she was a part of the 2026 winter Olympics, held in Milan. In her section, Kaori Sakamoto placed first and even had the best score at the Olympics’ Figure Skating Team Event. Later in the competition, she also won first in the free-skate segment, leading Japan to silver.
From the time she was barely able to walk to the time she turned 25, Kaori Sakamoto has been successful throughout her career. She won multiple competitions, both small and large. She was even able to secure some Olympic medals to add to her collection of victories. She is seen as a legend in Japan and will be remembered for her extraordinary career.