Kaori Sakamoto

Sakamoto began learning to skate in 2004 in Kobe.[8][9] She won the gold medal at the 2012–13 Japan Novice Championships and placed 9th at the Japan Junior Championships in the same year. She was invited to skate in the gala at the 2013 World Team Trophy.

During the 2013–2014 season, Sakamoto debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) circuit, placing sixth in Ostrava, Czech Republic. She finished eighth at the Japan Junior Championships.

Sakamoto started her season by finishing seventh at her JGP event in Aichi, Japan. She went on to win the Japanese national silver medal on the junior level before placing sixth on the senior level at the 2014–15 Japan Championships. Those results gave her a spot to compete at the 2015 World Junior Championships, where she placed fourth in the short program and 6th in the free skate to place sixth overall.

Sakamoto began her season by winning the silver medal at her JGP event in Riga, Latvia, and finishing fourth at her JGP event in Toruń, Poland. Due to a stress fracture in her right shinbone, she stayed off the ice in October and resumed skating without jumps in November.[10] At the Japanese Championships, she placed fifth competing in the junior event and thirteenth on the senior level. Sakamoto was selected to compete at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics. She placed fifth in the short program and sixth in the free skate to finish sixth overall.

Bronze medalist Sakamoto (right) with compatriot silver medalist Marin Honda at the 2017 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Sakamoto received medals at both of her 2016–17 JGP assignments – silver in France and gold in Japan[10] – and then won the Japanese junior title. In December, she took the bronze medal at the JGP Final in Marseille, France, and placed seventh competing on the senior level at the Japan Championships. She was assigned to replace the injured Satoko Miyahara at the 2017 Asian Winter Games but withdrew due to the flu.[11] She went on to win bronze at the 2017 World Junior Championships.[12] She was invited to skate in the gala at the 2017 World Team Trophy as the junior worlds bronze medalist.

Sakamoto started her first full senior season at the 2017 Asian Figure Skating Trophy, placing first in both segments to take the gold. At the 2017 U.S Classic, she placed fifth in the short program and 4th in the free skate to place fourth overall, behind compatriot and gold medalist Marin Honda. Making her senior Grand Prix debut, she finished 5th at the 2017 Rostelecom Cup after placing fourth in the short program and fifth in the free skate. At the 2017 Skate America, she scored new personal best scores for both segments of the competition; she placed second in both the short program and free skate and won the silver medal overall behind teammate Satoko Miyahara.

Sakamoto at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

At the 2017–18 Japan Figure Skating Championships, Sakamoto won the short program. In the free skate, she placed fourth and won the silver medal, her first senior national medal. Following the competition, the Japan Skating Federation named Sakamoto in Japan's team to the 2018 Winter Olympics, alongside Satoko Miyahara.[13] Sakamoto was named in Japan's team to the 2018 Four Continents Championships with Miyahara and training-mate Mai Mihara. She was also selected as the first alternate for the 2018 World Championships, behind Miyahara and Wakaba Higuchi.

At the 2018 Four Continents Championships, Sakamoto placed second in the short program with a new personal best score, behind teammate Satoko Miyahara. Sakamoto won the free skate with another personal best score, and won the championship, leading a Japanese sweep of the podium.

Sakamoto competed in the ladies' free skating portion of the Team Event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She placed fifth individually, and fifth overall within Team Japan. In the ladies' singles competition, Sakamoto skated a new personal best short program and was fifth going into the free skate. In the free skate, Sakamoto made minor mistakes, but still was able to post the sixth highest free skating score of the event, and ended in sixth place overall.

Post-Olympics, Sakamoto competed at the 2018 Coupe du Printemps. In the short program, she placed first. In the free skate, she fell on the second jump of a planned double axel-triple toe loop-double toe loop combination, and doubled a planned triple loop to place second in the segment. She ended the competition second overall behind compatriot Mai Mihara.

Sakamoto began the season at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy, where a disastrous short program left her in ninth place going into the free skate. She placed second in the free skate, rebounding to fourth place overall. Subsequently, Sakamoto indicated that she felt she had not had enough practice time before the event.[14] Competing at the 2018 Skate America, she repeated as the silver medalist, again finishing behind compatriot Miyahara. She pronounced herself "satisfied" with the results.[15] At her second event, the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki, Sakamoto fell twice in the short program, ending up in seventh place. She came second in the free skate, to place third overall, and remarked: "I gave it everything I had that was the only chance I would have to make it to the podium today. I forgot about yesterday's program, and I just gave my best today."[16]

At the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final, Sakamoto placed fourth in both segments, narrowly missing the podium after falling on the last part of her three-jump combination. She expressed happiness at the score she had achieved even with the error.[17]

Competing in the 2018 Japan Championships, Sakamoto placed second in the short program, slightly over a point behind Miyahara, the four-time defending champion. In the free skate, she again placed second, behind Rika Kihira, but placed ahead of Kihira in the overall points total to win the gold medal. In doing so, she became the first skater to place ahead of Kihira in senior competition. She was named to the Japanese teams for the 2019 Four Continents Championships and the 2019 World Championships.[18]

At Four Continents, Sakamoto placed second in the short program with a new personal best, 0.55 points behind Bradie Tennell.[19] In the free skate, she missed her three-jump combination when she popped the opening double Axel, and despite adding a double toe loop to her final jump, she lost several points as a result, and placed fourth in the free. She missed the podium overall by 0.33 points. She expressed frustration at the end, saying "I was very nervous and I missed some elements. It was such a disappointment, but I learned from this failure. I want to be stronger. At the World Championships, I want to put out the performance, both short and free, that is sharp and clean."[20]

At the World Championships in Saitama, Sakamoto placed second in the short program, winning a silver small medal.[21] In the free skate, a popped triple flip caused her to fall to fifth place overall. Sakamoto commented: "I still cannot figure out why I always cannot perform a perfect program, a performance without any mistakes."[22] Sakamoto concluded the season at the 2019 World Team Trophy, where she won the silver medal as part of Team Japan.[23]

Sakamoto began the season at the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial, where she won the silver medal, her first Challenger medal.

Beginning on the Grand Prix at 2019 Skate America, Sakamoto placed second in the short program and fourth in the free skate after popping two of her jumps and finished the event fourth overall.[24][25] Her second Grand-Prix event was the 2019 Internationaux de France, where she placed sixth in the short program after falling on a double Axel and putting a foot down on her triple loop.[26] Sakamoto was fourth in the free skate, despite several underrotations, rising to fourth place overall.[27]

On the 2019–20 Japanese Championships, Sakamoto was third in the short program despite underrotating the back half of her jump combination, and was narrowly behind second-place Satoko Miyahara.[28] She struggled in the free skate, underrotating or downgrading five jumps, and falling once, placing seventh in that segment and dropping to sixth place overall.[29] Commenting on her disappointing results afterward, she attributed much of her difficulty this season to the absence of her friend and longtime training partner Mai Mihara, who was sidelined from training due to illness: "But this year I could not fight by myself. I’m old enough now that I should be able to rely on myself."[30]

Despite her sixth-place finish at the national championships, Sakamoto was assigned to compete at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, where she was fourth in the short program despite turning out of the landing on her triple loop.[31] In the free skate, Sakamoto attempted a quad toe loop in competition for the first time, but fell and had the jump deemed downgraded. Making several other errors, she dropped to fifth place overall. Speaking afterward, she said "I couldn't fully trust myself. I'm glad I can use this experience and results as a learning experience for next season and future competitions."[32]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sakamoto won both the Kinki Regional Championship and Western Sectionals to qualify for a spot at the national championships.[33] Sakamoto began the international season at the 2020 NHK Trophy, which, to minimize international travel, was attending almost exclusively by Japanese skaters (the exception being You Young of South Korea) She won the short program, introducing the triple Lutz into that segment for the first time in five years.[34] Skating a clean free skate, she won that segment by over twenty points, taking the gold medal by almost thirty. This was her first Grand Prix gold medal. Sakamoto attributed her improvement over the previous season in part to increased strength training facilitated by being off-ice during the pandemic.[35][36]

At the 2020–21 Japan Championships, Sakamoto entered with the perceived momentum from her NHK Trophy win, but faced the returning Rika Kihira, who had been scheduled to compete elsewhere on the Grand Prix that season.[37] Sakamoto made an error in her short program, performing only a double toe loop instead of a planned triple as part of her jump combination, but ended up in second place, 7.48 points behind Kihira.[38] Skating cleanly in the free, she remained in second behind Kihira, who successfully performed a quadruple Salchow. She was assigned to the Japanese team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[39]

Sakamoto at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki.

Sakamoto at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. ISU Personal bests in bold.

Sakamoto at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

Sakamoto at the 2016–17 JGP Final.

Sakamoto at the 2015 World Junior Championships.

Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships.