Milano Cortina 2026: From Despair to Pure Joy: Takanashi’s 4-Year Journey in Ski Jumping

By Azusa Nakazono / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

2:00 JST, February 13, 2026

Four years ago, Sara Takanashi had been crying in despair at the Beijing Games, but now, she shed tears of joy as she contributed to Japan’s first bronze medal in the ski jumping mixed team event at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Tuesday.

There were times Takanashi, 29, had even considered retiring from competition, but her heart was warmed by a fan’s words of encouragement and her unwavering love for ski jumping.

In the mixed team event, two men and two women each perform twice and compete with their total points. Japan was in fifth place when Takanashi, the third jumper, lifted the team to third place with her 96.5-meter jump in the first round. She followed this up with 97 meters in the second round, securing Japan’s place on the podium.

Once Japan’s bronze was confirmed, Takanashi rushed into the arms of Yuki Ito, 31, with whom she competed at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, and cried her eyes out.

“Four years ago, I couldn’t think I’d be able to compete in the Olympics again, and now I’ve even won a medal,” Takanashi said.

Before the award ceremony, she once again cried tears of joy and relief.

On Feb. 8, 2022, Takanashi had written about her feelings in an Instagram post: “My disqualification changed the lives of everyone [in the team]. I don’t even think I can take responsibility for that, but I need to think about [my taking part in] the sports from now on.”

The previous day’s mixed team event in Beijing had ended up like a nightmare.

Takanashi, then going first, landed a huge 103-meter jump in the first round. However, she was disqualified after a post-performance test found her suit to be 2 centimeters wider around the thighs than the limit.

While she recovered well in the second round, Japan finished fourth and missed out on a medal.

Even after returning home, she was not able to watch videos from the event. The word “retirement” lingered in her mind.

That summer, Takanashi joined a training camp in Yamagata City.

“Watching your jumps really hypes me up,” a fan watching her practice jumps told her.

The moment Takanashi heard those words, she felt her depression lift. She realized that her jumps entertained others, and that she jumped because she enjoyed it. Recalling how she began ski jumping in her second grade of elementary school, she resolved keep to competing.

Takanashi was 17 when she competed at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, the year women’s ski jumping was introduced in the Games.

In 2018, she won bronze in the Pyeongchang Olympics. She has won 63 in World Cup events, a record for both men and women. Yet fourth place is her highest individual result at the World Cup events this season.

While placing 13th in the women’s ski jumping normal hill individual event on Saturday, she was still selected for the mixed team, allowing her to make up for her loss four years ago. In Tuesday’s team event, she focused on the words she has held dear since her teenage years: “Don’t rush, don’t hurry, don’t give up.”

“I’ve been able to get here thanks to the support of many people over the past four years,” she said after the event. “This medal is not won by me, it’s one everyone helped me win. It’s the happiest medal of my life.”