Figure skater Ami Nakai and other medalists return to Japan with their signature “finger on the cheek” pose.

So cute!

When the girls showed up at the airport, the fans who greeted them cheered loudly and said, “Welcome back! Welcome back! Congratulations! and “Congratulations!

On February 24, the Japanese delegation from the Cortina Olympics in Milan returned to Japan. About 400 fans gathered in the arrival lobby of Narita Airport. The words “Welcome home, thank you for the excitement! and a banner that read, “Thank you for the excitement.

The charter flight carrying the athletes arrived two hours later than scheduled. During that time, the excitement of the people gathered in the lobby was growing. When the players appeared in their jerseys pushing carts loaded with large luggage, they were greeted with a roar of almost shrieking cheers.

Following the airport staff, the first to show up was the team of figure skaters who had won six medals this competition. First up were Rikura Miura (24) and Ryuichi Kihara (33), the first Japanese pair to win a gold medal, “Rikuryu. The two, wearing their gold medals around their necks, looked at each other without much surprise, as if they had anticipated this huge welcome, and then waved to their fans.

The fans’ voltage rose even higher when the silver medalist, Kaori Sakamoto (25), appeared on stage, followed by Hidehito Ito, the leader of the team, Masahiko Harada, the vice leader, and others. When Sakamoto waved to the fans with a big, charming smile, they cheered loudly, as they did at the beginning of the competition.

And when bronze medalist Ami Nakai (17) made her appearance, the cheers of “Cute! and cheers of “Cute! Nakai responded to the fans’ expectations with a pose of holding up her index finger on her cheek, which became a topic of conversation after her free skating performance.

A single mistake cost them the silver medal.”

Afterwards, the medalists were moved to a hotel in Tokyo for the homecoming press conference, at which the deputy team leader, Mr. Harada, was the first to speak,

As a representative of athletes, may I say something?　I’m so envious. I’m so envious. I’m so happy.

Miura said, “I’m so envious! Miura said,

Miura said, “We made a big mistake in the short program of the individual competition, but we really believed in the practice we had been putting in. Thank you so much for all your support.

Miura said nervously, “I made a big mistake in the short program in the individual competition, but I really believed in what we had practiced. Sakamoto said nervously, “In the individual competition, we made only one mistake,

In the individual competition, I made a single mistake that cost me the silver medal, but thanks to the support of so many people, I was able to perform as well as I did.

He greeted the audience with a stiff expression, different from his usual Sakamoto.

Just before the bronze medalist Nakai was about to address the audience, the MC mistakenly called her name “Hirai,” but Nakai smiled and put on an adorable face, saying, “Now that I am wearing my medal, I am so happy,

I am so happy to be here now,” Nakai said, smiling, “and to be standing here with this medal. I am very happy to be here now, and I think it is thanks to all of you that I am able to be here now, and I will do my best so that I can compete here again in four years’ time. Thank you very much.

I will do my best to be here again in four years,” he said politely and firmly, as if he were an active high school student.

Sakamoto was asked to close the interview and was handed the microphone,

I think the most important factor that brought us all together was that we were all looking in the same direction and working toward the same goal. If even one person thinks, “This is good enough,” the unity of the team will decline, but I think the biggest thing was that we all challenged with the desire to achieve the best color, and that feeling continued into the individual competition. I think that was the key to the unity of Team Japan.

I think it led to the unity of Team Japan,” he said, finishing his comments as the leader of Team Japan. Sakamoto retired after this competition, but “ISU World Figure Championships 2026” will be held in Prague (Czech Republic) from March 24th.

We look forward to the birth of a new hero/heroine following Rikyu and Nakai.