"I'm the one who should be expressing my gratitude."
An interview with Yuma Kagiyama and his father and coach Masakazu Kagiyama at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Please do not use/repost my translations without my permission.
Interviewer: And now, we have Yuma Kagiyama, who won a silver medal in men's figure skating, and his father Coach Masakazu. Congratulations!
Interviewer: Now that some time has passed, has reality set in that you won a silver medal yet?
Yuma: Let’s see… Well… It hasn’t really set in that I’m a medalist. When I look at the medal, I’ll think ‘I won a medal,” but I’m already looking towards the next thing. We already held our reflection meeting.
Interviewer: We want to ask the two of you many things today, but there’s a video we’d like you to watch. Start!
6 year old Yuma in the video: My dream is… I want to go to the Olympics.
Interviewer: So adorable! This is a video from when he was 6 years old. Masakazu, isn’t he cute?
Masakazu: Now that you’ve shown me a video like this, I won’t be able to yell at him anymore. It’s too much.
Interviewer: Coach Masakazu, did you think he would really go to the Olympics at that time?
Masakazu: No, I thought he was just saying the word Olympics, and he didn’t know what the Olympics are. He probably knew that I went to the Olympics and was influenced into saying that. He was so young, so I don’t think he really understood.
Interviewer: Yuma, did you have a period of time where you wanted to distance yourself from skating or a rebellious phase?
Interviewer: Masakazu is laughing a lot but…
Yuma: I think I did… There were times that I couldn’t concentrate by myself. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I was told what to do, so I did it, and I was done for the day. During that period of time, I didn’t seriously confront skating.
Interviewer: Masakazu, we heard from you before that you planted a seed in Yuma during this time he wasn’t seriously confronting skating. Could you tell us what seed you planted at that time?
Masakazu: I only planted a seed when he was very, very little. He said he didn’t like getting yelled at, but he still went to skate, so I think the seed he planted himself played a big role. Normally, if you don’t want to skate you stop going to the rink. I think that’s the case for a lot of people, but he at least kept coming to the rink. The content of his practice may have been lower, but because his friends were there - it doesn’t matter if it was for that reason. He kept going to the rink and skating, and that was one of the things that saved him. I guess you could call that a seed.
Interviewer: Masakazu, there was a period of time when you were ill and couldn’t accompany him.
Masakazu: As a parent, it was difficult that I had to make him become independent at such a sensitive time in his third year of middle school. Normally, it would be appropriate for him to be selfish or go through a rebellious phase… That’s the age where I’d have to wake him up and drag him to practice, but he woke up by himself in the morning and went to practice alone. I had to make him do that, and it’s painful… It was painful.
Yuma: But I think that because I had to become independent then, that’s why I have my current personality… I’m able to do those things naturally now, and that’s the biggest sign that I’ve grown. My personality changed, like becoming methodical, like if I can’t sit still if I don’t do what I’m supposed to. After waking up at a certain time, doing what I’m supposed to, and going to practice every day, I was able to do it all naturally, and that shows I’ve grown up.
Interviewer: Since we have both of you here today, could you express your feelings of gratitude to your father sitting next to you?
Masakazu: So embarrassing…
Yuma: Eh… Thank you very much.
Masakazu: I should be thanking him, since I’m the one who’s been taken all the way here because of him. I’m the one who should be expressing my gratitude so… Thank you very much.
Yuma: I’m also grateful to people like staff, sponsors, and my middle school and high school teachers who keep my skating career in mind. I have to keep working harder to repay them. From now on, I want to continue following my own path without giving up.
Interviewer: We’re looking forward to it. Thank you for your time today. Congratulations!
Masakazu and Yuma: Thank you.
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