Japanese · Kobe, Japan · Born 9 April 2000Kaori Sakamoto is a retired Japanese figure skater and three-time World Champion who won an Olympic bronze medal in 2022 and two Olympic team silvers.
Three consecutive World Championship titles from 2022 to 2024 made Kaori Sakamoto the first Japanese skater of either gender to three-peat at the World Championships, an achievement built on the 2022 Olympic bronze that had first established her among the sport's elite. She had a strong junior career, winning bronze at both the 2016-17 Junior Grand Prix Final and the 2017 World Junior Championships, before moving up to senior competition the following season. Sakamoto made her Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, finishing sixth, and won the Four Continents Championship that same season. She returned to the Olympics at Beijing 2022 and delivered the finest performance of her career, helping Japan to a silver medal in the team event before winning bronze in the individual competition, becoming only the fourth Japanese woman to win an Olympic figure skating medal. Sakamoto capped her Olympic breakthrough by winning the World Championship title just weeks later in Montpellier, and went on to defend the title in both 2023 and 2024, becoming the first Japanese skater of either gender to win three consecutive World titles. She competed at a fourth World Championships in 2025, finishing runner-up, and closed her competitive career at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, winning a second team silver medal before retiring from competition on March 27, 2026, having won six Japanese national titles across her career.
First Japanese skater of either gender to win three consecutive World Championship titles
How They Played
Technically clean, dynamic skater renowned for jump consistency and athletic performance quality
Lasting Impact
One of the most decorated Japanese women's figure skaters in history and a dominant force in the sport through the early-to-mid 2020s
Career Honours
- Olympic bronze, women's singles (2022)
- 2x Olympic silver, team event (2022, 2026)
- 3x consecutive World Champion (2022, 2023, 2024)
- First Japanese skater, male or female, to win three consecutive World titles
- 2018 Four Continents champion
Japanese Athletes