There's a new interview with Sota about the last season and his decision to continue:
フィギュアスケート日本代表エキシビション「ドリーム・オン・アイス」を終えてひととき。 初演となったプログラムの感想を、山本草太はこう語った。「初めての披露としてはよい感触はあって、(1/2)
jbpress.ismedia.jp
It features very little in terms of information that Sota fans did not know already, but on the flip side, it's available without geoblocking, not paywalled, and works well with Google Translate ^ ^
Figure skater Sota Yamamoto, who had considered retiring after last season, decided to continue competing: "To be able to satisfy myself."
I thought I would retire this season.
A moment of reflection after the Japanese figure skating team's exhibition, "Dream on Ice."
Sota Yamamoto shared his thoughts on the program's premiere as follows:
"It felt good as our first performance, but when I watched the video back, I felt like we could do even better."
As he spoke of his progress and challenges, his expression was as calm as ever, yet it also conveyed a sense of fulfillment and a determination to move forward.
At this time last year, Yamamoto probably couldn't have imagined that a year later he would be competing as a skater.
"Before last season started, I thought, 'This season will be my last. I'll retire after this season.' I chose 'Hallelujah' for my free program because I wanted something fitting for my retirement, as it would be my final program in competitive sports."
The 2025-2026 season is a quadrennial season leading up to the Milan-Cortina Olympics. With the goal of competing in the Olympics, and looking ahead to the start of the season which will be the culmination of his athletic career, he said, "I was able to train well during the off-season, and I was in good shape."
But then things took a turn for the worse. Last September, he fell while jumping during practice and injured his back.
"I was working on a program with four quadruple jumps, but I was feeling the difficulty of doing all four, so my practice volume had become quite hard. I continued to do quadruple flips and other jumps even though I was quite fatigued. That's when I got injured."
The Kinoshita Group Cup was just around the corner.
"My coaches told me that it would be better to withdraw from the competition."
Nevertheless, he still participated. He traveled to Georgia, the host country of the Trialeti Cup, hoping to participate in that as well, but he did not recover and was forced to withdraw.
He said, "Even walking was difficult." Despite this, he participated in the Kinoshita Group Cup, and explored the possibility of participating in subsequent matches until the very last minute, because, "I wanted to make an impression throughout the season." His desire to participate in the Olympics was that strong.
Contrary to expectations, the situation did not improve easily.
"Of course I was anxious. It's the Olympic season, the Grand Prix series, which is part of the selection criteria for the national team, has started, and the All Japan Championships are coming up, so everything I did during the off-season has really come back to zero, and it was tough."
But even so, his feelings never wavered.
He has officially announced that he will continue playing professionally.
"What happened couldn't be helped, and I accepted it as inevitable because the injury wasn't due to careless practice, but rather because I was solely focused on improving. I was unable to skate for a long time, and due to insufficient practice, I missed the Grand Prix series, making it difficult to qualify for the Olympics at that point. But I didn't give up until the final All Japan Championships."
In the two Grand Prix Series events, he finished 9th and 6th.
At the All Japan Championships, he finished 6th in the short program, 5th in the free skate, and 5th overall.
"I felt like the four minutes of the free program were over in the blink of an eye."
The performance I was aiming for before the season started probably wouldn't have resulted in this outcome.
However, in the mixed zone after her performance, he said, "It was a disappointing performance," but at the same time, he exuded an energy that suggested he was looking towards the future.
Looking back, Yamamoto says:
"Throughout the season, I wasn't able to practice the way I wanted, and I wasn't able to perform the way I wanted, but finally, about a month before the All Japan Championships, I was able to practice as usual. I wasn't quite ready for the All Japan Championships yet, but I felt like I was on a good roll. I hadn't decided then whether I would continue for the next season, but I think I had the feeling that 'next time for sure.'"
After the competition, the stage for his next target was set: he was selected to represent Japan at the Four Continents Championships.
His resolve solidified during those days leading up to that goal.
"My focus was primarily on doing my best at the Four Continents Championships. I had been able to practice well, so I was starting to feel confident that I could perform the routine I was aiming for. I also had confidence that if I stayed healthy and continued to practice well, I could really deliver a great performance."
During that process, I solidified my resolve to continue competing in the next season.
At the Four Continents Championships, where he had finished fourth two years prior, he took third place and stood on the podium. "That Four Continents was my first senior medal at a Championships. Everyone around me was happy for me, and that made me happy too."
Yamamoto, who expressed his intention to continue competing during the tournament, officially announced his intention to continue competing on February 4th.
"I want to have a season where I can feel satisfied that I gave it my all throughout, and I want to get my body in shape to do that first and then go through the season."
These feelings stemmed from having experienced difficult times and yet rising again over the course of a year.
While vowing to grow even further, his unwavering passion for skating also served as a source of support for the new season.
*****
The last time I recall Sota saying it was difficult to even walk was when he had the stress fracture, so this is a testament to the severity of the recent injury.
That said, I hope his hamstring injury is healing well
(There's also one more JB Press article as of today, which suggests the injury is mostly, if not fully, healed. I'll share it soon)
It's still too early to tell what Sota will be doing and feeling at the end of the new season, but the's nothing in the article at this point suggesting he might want to give another season a try. I don't know if it's just me, but the recent interviews give me a 'I want to have a good season I can be satisfied with, and then it'll be the perfect time to call it quits' vibe. I recall one of his old interviews where he was talking about his desire to skate competitively as long as possible, and I feel he's in another place at this point, perhaps mentally transitioning into coaching. That's just my personal feeling based on the translations of these interviews, no idea what he says in FSKE for instance.
I want his season to go well, but I'd also love to see him in person once more, and that just feels like a pipe dream at this point, with just a single competition for him in Europe.
I'd be thrilled if he continued competing next season too, if he has the slightest desire to.
Something wrong with the entry list. He must be as confused as us.
