Milano Cortina 2026: Kagiyama Took Long, Difficult Road to Becoming Japan’s Ace Figure Skater

By Kohei Tsukamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

21:00 JST, February 14, 2026

Figure skater Yuma Kagiyama blossomed on the ice at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Friday, delivering an expressive performance of lithe yet powerful skating to secure his second consecutive silver medal in the men’s singles event. Japan’s ace skater, who has consistently aimed to be an “all-rounder,” truly showed his mettle in the event’s turbulent final showdown at the Games.

Kagiyama, 22, took on the free skate on Friday, after placing 5.09 points behind U.S. favorite Ilia Malinin. in Tuseday’s short program. In his free skate, Kagiyama lost his balance on his opening quadruple Salchow and fell on the subsequent quadruple flip. Nevertheless, he thrilled the crowd with smooth steps and dazzling spins, provisionally securing second place.

His expression remained stiff after the performance, but Malinin, who performed after Kagiyama, also made a series of mistakes. When Kagiyama was confirmed as the silver medalist, he smiled and waved to the audience.

“I have some regrets, but I managed to fight through them,” he said after the medal ceremony.

Becoming a champion

Choreographer Misao Sato, 55, who once coached Kagiyama, remembers a remark made by Kagiyama’s father, Masakazu, after a move to Yokohama when Kagiyama was in his first year of junior high school.

“I know it will be tough if he gets involved in [figure skating] seriously. If he doesn’t say that’s what he wants to do, it’s alright for him to just enjoy skating,” Sato recalled Masakazu saying.

Masakazu, 54, was also once a figure skater and competed in the men’s singles at the 1992 Albertville and 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.

At that time, dance moves that other skaters could learn in a week would take Kagiyama a month or more to master. He had never won a national-level competition.

However, his attitude changed in his third year of junior high school, when Masakazu suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Kagiyama told his father that he wanted to skate seriously. Around that time, he began frequently telling Sato that he wanted to become an all-rounder. He began taking time to practice not just jumps, but spins and steps, trying to hone his precision, Sato recalled.

Kagiyama made his Olympic debut in 2022, as a third-year high school student, competing in the Beijing Games alongside Yuzuru Hanyu, 31, who won the gold medal in the men’s singles at both the Sochi and Pyeong-chang Games, and Shoma Uno, 28, who took silver at Pyeongchang. Kagiyama felt at ease as he enjoyed being on the big stage, watching and learning from two skaters he looked up to, before he achieved the remarkable feat of surpassing even them to earn a silver medal at Beijing.

Generational shift

In the years following the Beijing Olympics, Japanese men’s figure skating underwent a rapid generational shift. Hanyu announced his retirement from competition in July 2022. Uno, who had won consecutive World Championships in 2022 and 2023, announced his own retirement in May 2024. After their departures, Kagiyama began to be called Japan’s “ace” figure skater.

The only one now standing between him and unchallenged dominance of the sport was Malinin, the man who earned the nickname “Quad God” for being the only figure skater in the world to successfully land a quadruple Axel. In the 2024 season, Kagiyama placed second at the Grand Prix Final and third at the World Championships — with Malinin ahead of him both times. Kagiyama was unable to stand atop the same pinnacle where previous Japanese aces had reigned.

Even a year ago, Kagiyama was struggling under the pressure of having to live up to expectations. Overly focused on results, he filled his programs with highly difficult jumps, causing him to make numerous mistakes. He even made errors with steps and spins, which he had rarely done before.

Finding an answer in himself

“What does it mean to be an ace?” Kagiyama kept asking himself. It was a question that no one else could answer. He found his answer in returning to his original goal of becoming an all-rounder to compete on the world stage. He then began focusing on every detail — from intricate steps and spins to subtle facial expressions — dedicating himself to delivering a performance that would move spectators.

“The results he achieved while under huge pressure prove that he has made thorough efforts,” Masakazu said of his son after Friday’s free skate. “I believe it’s no exaggeration to say he has worked harder than anyone else in the world. I want to celebrate him.”