Feb 27, 2023 at 06:52 Update: 4 minutes ago
Figure skating in the Netherlands is far ahead of long track speed skating and short track speed skating, but worldwide it is the most popular winter sport. This was also evident at the Challenge Cup last weekend. Japanese fans had come to Tilburg from all over Europe to see world champion Kaori Sakamoto in action.
An hour and a half after her winning free freestyle, the best figure skater in the world walks into a sea of people in a corridor of the IJsportcentrum Tilburg. Dozens of phones target the Japanese superstar at the same time.
22-year-old Sakamoto patiently poses for every fan. She smiles kindly when a bunch of white tulips are pressed into her hands and with great pleasure puts a pink hairband with two rabbit ears on her head. For the photo, she depicts two extra ears with her hands.
A white piece of paper with the text “Kaori Power” in Japanese even causes a shout of joy. The sign belongs to a Japanese who studies in the Slovak capital Bratislava and traveled to the Netherlands for Sakamoto. The fan met a large number of compatriots in Brabant who, like them, live in Europe. They all did not want to pass up the opportunity to watch the world champion live.
“In Japan it is very difficult and expensive to buy a ticket for an art competition,” says Sakamoto with the help of an interpreter. “For Japanese who live in Europe – and there are many – it is not that difficult to come to the Netherlands. It is a win-win situation; they can watch figure skating and I now had many fans in the stands.”
Kaori Sakamoto puts a hairband with rabbit ears on her head. Photo: NU.nl/Daan de Ridder
Van Zundert tries to learn from Sakamoto
When Lindsay van Zundert was on the ice at the same time as Sakamoto during a training session leading up to the Challenge Cup, she couldn’t help but glance at the Japanese from time to time.
“When I see what she can do, I think: I want that too,” says the best figure skater in the Netherlands. “Her way of skating, the speed with which she performs her pirouettes; of course I can learn something from that. Very nice that riders of such a high level participate here.”
Last year in Beijing, Van Zundert became the first Dutch figure skater at the Games since 1976. The interest in the sport in the Netherlands experienced a revival, but is still incomparable with countries such as Japan. There, two-time Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu is the second most popular athlete in the country, after top baseball player Shohei Ohtani.
Sakamoto is not that well known yet, but her first world title last year in Montpellier, France, has increased her fan base considerably. In Tilburg, the winner of Olympic bronze will see many Japanese flags in the audience on Sunday. The cheering after her free freestyle is even louder than an hour earlier after the performance of home favorite Van Zundert.
“This was the nicest atmosphere I’ve experienced so far at a match in the Netherlands,” says Van Zundert. Smiling: “Although it will have helped that the entrance was free.”
Japanese flags on the stands in Tilburg. Photo: NU.nl/Daan de Ridder
How does a Japanese world champion get to Tilburg?
How does a Japanese world champion end up at a modest figure skating competition in the Netherlands? “By maintaining warm contacts with the Japanese federation for years”, Esther de Groot answers. “I always start in the summer with questions about whether top riders can participate.”
De Groot has been involved in the organization of the Challenge Cup on behalf of the KNSB skating association for twenty years. Sakamoto’s participation is one of her highlights of that long period. “I really screamed when it was definitely certain that she would come,” she laughs.
The Challenge Cup’s favorable place on the calendar played an important role in the arrival of Sakamoto’s arrival. The Japanese wanted to skate another competition for the World Cup in her own country (March 20-26) and found the three-week period before the global tournament ideal. “And the Japanese always say that they find it well organized here,” says De Groot.
Sakamoto certainly did not come to Tilburg for the money, because the KNSB has no budget for starting premiums. De Groot: “We would like to make this a bigger event. But yes, the money, eh. We have no sponsors.”
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Sakamoto. After the photo session, the winner of the Challenge Cup smiles and walks to the changing rooms with her fans, holding the best gift of the day: a bag of Dutch stroopwafels.
Kaori Sakamoto is very happy with her stroopwafels. Photo: NU.nl/Daan de Ridder
Challenge Cup result
Kaori Sakamoto (Jap) – 228,35 Mai Mihara (Jap) – 203,23 Mana Kawabe (Jap) – 192,46 Nina Pinzarrone (Bel) – 191,20 Lindsay van Zundert (Ned) – 176,84
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