Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama to pause competitive skating in 2026-27 season

Yuma Kagiyama will step away from competitive figure skating for the 2026-27 season, a pause that underscores how punishing the Olympic cycle can be for even the sport’s most durable stars. The 22-year-old Japanese skater said he wants to rediscover the joy of skating and try new challenges after a string of demanding seasons.

Kagiyama said he is not retiring. Instead, he plans to stay visible through ice shows and other events, and described the break as a period of self-reflection. He added that he has “a few projects in the works,” signaling a reset rather than an exit from the sport he has helped define in Japan.

The timing matters. Kagiyama had just finished second at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, where he scored 306.67 points and trailed American champion Ilia Malinin’s 329.40. That runner-up finish came after he repeated his Olympic result from Beijing, winning silver in both the individual and team events at the 2026 Winter Games, just as he had done in 2022.

His résumé already places him among the most accomplished skaters of his generation. Kagiyama has won four world silver medals, in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2026, and captured the 2024 Four Continents title. He first announced himself on the world stage in Stockholm in 2021, where he earned silver at his debut world championships, then built on that momentum with two Grand Prix victories in the Beijing Olympic season.

The break also highlights the physical and mental cost of staying at the top in men’s skating. Kagiyama missed most of the 2022-23 season while recovering from injury, a reminder that the sport’s technical arms race leaves little margin for error. He is coached by his father, Masakazu Kagiyama, and by Carolina Kostner, the 2012 world champion, in a support system built around longevity as much as medals.

For Japan, his absence removes one of the country’s most reliable podium contenders from the 2026-27 circuit, at least temporarily. Kagiyama has been one of the central figures in Japan’s post-Yuzuru Hanyu era, and his decision could reshape both domestic medal hopes and the international field as younger skaters chase openings left by a proven contender stepping back to recover.