Exclusive Interview with Legendary Ski Jumper Noriaki Kasai, 51: “I Can Still Do It, You Know?”

Winning gives me confidence. It’s amazing at my age.

With an innocent smile on his face, ski jumping legend Noriaki Kasai, 51, said, “It’s amazing to win at my age.

After the TVh Cup Ski Jumping event held at Okurayama in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on February 3, he won for the first time in two years, since the Snow Brand Megmilk Cup in January 2010, and became the first skier in his 50s to win the event. He has been selected to represent Japan at the World Cup in Sapporo starting February 17, and is expected to break his own Guinness record of 569 individual World Cup ski jumping events.

He is the undisputed iron man of the sport, but he has had many trials and tribulations on his way to this point in his career. Here is a look back at his tumultuous life, in Kasai’s own words.

“I tried to make my mother comfortable.

Born in Shimokawa-cho, Hokkaido, where skiing is popular, Kasai started jumping when he was in the third grade of elementary school.

When I went to a local ski resort, a friend asked me if I wanted to try jumping. When I went to a local ski resort, a friend asked me to try jumping, and the sensation of floating up in the air was very pleasant. I wanted to try it again.

However, Kasai’s family was so poor that his father was often ill and they could not afford to eat every day. Unable to afford expensive ski equipment, he used hand-me-downs from his senior members of the boys’ team. Unable to raise money for food on expeditions, they sometimes had to borrow rice from neighbors and relatives.

His mother worked hard to make ends meet to support the family. I wanted to go to the Olympics someday and win a gold medal so that I could make her life easier. This wish became the driving force for me to continue jumping.

After graduating from Tokai University Senior High School (now Tokai University Sapporo High School), Kasai joined the prestigious Hokkaido-based Jisaki Kogyo (now Iwata Jisaki Corporation).

At Jisaki Kogyo, I trained like I was puking up blood. The coach was an ogre. At training camps, we had to run 1,500 meters in less than five minutes, squat with 100 kg weights, and soak in practice from morning till night. I was exhausted every day, but it gave me a special feeling as a jumper, as if I had a spring in my step.

Kasai, who has proven herself in domestic and international competitions, continued to compete in the Olympics, first in Albertville in 1992, and then in Lillehammer in 1994. He was determined to win the gold medal.

My sister, who is five years younger than me, was suffering from aplastic anemia, an incurable disease. I thought the best treatment was to make her happy by winning a gold medal. During the interview, she said enthusiastically, ‘I think she will be cured if I grind up her gold medal and give it to her to drink.