<figure id="attachment_458929" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458929" style="width: 3451px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b01145d0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/af4b9db3ec615d4c40bb98ff129a2b24.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458929" class="wp-caption-text">Ami Nakai poses with her finger on her cheek for fans at Narita Airport on February 24.</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span class="strongInContent"> So cute!</span></h2>
<p> When the girls showed up at the airport, the fans who greeted them cheered loudly and said, &#8220;Welcome back! Welcome back! Congratulations! and &#8220;Congratulations!</p>
<p> 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 &#8220;Welcome home, thank you for the excitement! and a banner that read, &#8220;Thank you for the excitement.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> 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.</span></p>
<p> 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, &#8220;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.</p>
<p> The fans&#8217; 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.</p>
<p> And when bronze medalist Ami Nakai (17) made her appearance, the cheers of &#8220;Cute! and cheers of &#8220;Cute! Nakai responded to the fans&#8217; expectations with a pose of holding up her index finger on her cheek, which became a topic of conversation after her free skating performance.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The athletes attended the press conference with nervous faces."></div>
<h2><span class="strongInContent">A single mistake cost them the silver medal.&#8221;</span></h2>
<p> 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,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As a representative of athletes, may I say something?　I&#8217;m so envious. I&#8217;m so envious. I&#8217;m so happy.</span></p>
<p> Miura said, &#8220;I&#8217;m so envious! Miura said,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Miura said, &#8220;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.</span></p>
<p> Miura said nervously, &#8220;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, &#8220;In the individual competition, we made only one mistake,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> 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.</span></p>
<p> He greeted the audience with a stiff expression, different from his usual Sakamoto.</p>
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<p> Just before the bronze medalist Nakai was about to address the audience, the MC mistakenly called her name &#8220;Hirai,&#8221; but Nakai smiled and put on an adorable face, saying, &#8220;Now that I am wearing my medal, I am so happy,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I am so happy to be here now,&#8221; Nakai said, smiling, &#8220;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&#8217; time. Thank you very much.</span></p>
<p> I will do my best to be here again in four years,&#8221; he said politely and firmly, as if he were an active high school student.</p>
<p> Sakamoto was asked to close the interview and was handed the microphone,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> 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, &#8220;This is good enough,&#8221; 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.</span></p>
<p> I think it led to the unity of Team Japan,&#8221; he said, finishing his comments as the leader of Team Japan. Sakamoto retired after this competition, but &#8220;ISU World Figure Championships 2026&#8221; will be held in Prague (Czech Republic) from March 24th.</p>
<p> We look forward to the birth of a new hero/heroine following Rikyu and Nakai.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Female figure skaters immediately after their arrival at Narita Airport."></div>
<figure id="attachment_458930" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458930" style="width: 2943px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0c8e2abc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/c686820db06f4735c650571d428e891e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458930" class="wp-caption-text">Rikuryu,&#8221; who appeared at the front of the team, was cheered by the crowd.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458931" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458931" style="width: 3726px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7a4b25ca"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/09a2aa9e0b62afbb523259a31149b785.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458931" class="wp-caption-text"> Rikuryu&#8221; smiling with a smile on his face</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458932" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458932" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f54563f5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/ed5b9f2fb427c44ecfbf5fbabb39187e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458932" class="wp-caption-text"> Rirai Miura responds to the cheers by waving her hands.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_458933" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458933" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d627db65"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/239f14490b488c43759998278bacb4aa-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458933" class="wp-caption-text"> Rirai Miura shows a different smile from her performance.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Team Japan&#39;s mood maker, Kaori Sakamoto"></div>
<figure id="attachment_458934" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458934" style="width: 2326px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fd130f19"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/b2465b73b41de78e877e75f9cd11a634.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458934" class="wp-caption-text">Kaori Sakamoto shows her relief at the loud cheers.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458935" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458935" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ef853785"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/22a4f0cbcb8b50d9dda88970c7ee5157-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458935" class="wp-caption-text"> Kaori Sakamoto shows her typical bubbly smile.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458936" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458936" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fd7539bc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/e4fd28576859c79d8e1ca3de86dd75d0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458936" class="wp-caption-text"> Kaori Sakamoto waves politely to each of her fans.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_458937" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458937" style="width: 3759px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c534149f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/35488ba6832c87a336cdaf4c5a19b880.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458937" class="wp-caption-text"> Ami Nakai with her lovely smile, just like a high school student.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_458938" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458938" style="width: 3487px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cf4b1cd2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/f8bbca517ce251f57500874e11437a5f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458938" class="wp-caption-text"> Ami Nakai shows a shy smile in front of about 400 fans.</figcaption></figure>


 Kumataro Arai

 On February 24, the Japanese Winter Olympics athletes returned to Japan at Narita Airport. About 400 fans gathered in the arrival lobby, and the figure skaters who came out at the front of the crowd showed us their adorable appearance.

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

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