Noriaki Kasai

Noriaki Kasai (葛西 紀明, Kasai Noriaki, born 6 June 1972) is a Japanese ski jumper. His career achievements include a gold medal at the 1992 Ski Flying World Championships, winning the 1999 Nordic Tournament, individual silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two individual bronze medals at the 2003 Ski Jumping World Championships.

Noriaki Kasai
葛西 紀明
Kasai in Bischofshofen, 2017
Country Japan
Born (1972-06-06) 6 June 1972
Shimokawa, Hokkaido, Japan
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Ski clubTsuchiya Home Ski Team
Personal best241.5 m (792 ft)
Vikersund, 19 March 2017
World Cup career
Seasons
Individual wins17
Team wins3
Indiv. podiums63
Team podiums19
Indiv. starts569
Team starts71
Nordic titles1 (1999)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 2 1
Ski Jumping World Championships 0 2 5
Ski Flying World Championships 1 0 0
Total 1 4 6
Olympic Games
1994 Lillehammer Team LH
2014 Sochi Individual LH
2014 Sochi Team LH
World Championships
1999 Ramsau Team LH
2003 Val di Fiemme Team LH
2003 Val di Fiemme Individual NH
2003 Val di Fiemme Individual LH
2007 Sapporo Team LH
2009 Liberec Team LH
2015 Falun Mixed NH
Men's ski flying
World Championships
1992 Harrachov Individual
Updated on 12 March 2020.

During his career, Kasai broke numerous ski jumping records. In 2016, Kasai was honoured with two Guinness World Records certificates for the most individual World Cup starts, not only in ski jumping, but in all World Cup disciplines organized by the International Ski Federation. Kasai has been competing for 31 seasons between 1988–89 and 2019–20, and consecutively since 1995–96.

Career

1988: World Cup debut

Kasai made his World Cup debut on 17 December 1988 in Sapporo, Japan, at the age of 16, reaching 31st place. A year later he performed in his first Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland.

1992: World champion

He won his first and to date only major championship at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships 1992 in Harrachov, Czechoslovakia. He won after a second day of competition which was cancelled after strong winds and a crash of Christof Duffner. At that time he was among the world's top jumpers, known for his extraordinary style, holding his body almost flat between his skis.

1994: Olympic team medal

In 1994, he was a member of the Japanese national team that won a silver medal in the team large hill and finished fifth in the individual large hill at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. After breaking his shoulder he missed the entire 1994/95 season.

1999: Nordic Tournament

In 1999, Kasai won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival and Nordic Tournament overall title. He collected a total of seven medals at the Nordic World Championships, including two silver (team large hill in 1999 and 2003) and five bronze medals (individual normal hill and individual large hill in 2003, team large hill in 2007 and 2009, and mixed team normal hill in 2015). At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished eighth on the large hill and 17th on the normal hill.

2014: Oldest Olympic medalist

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi he competed in a record seventh Olympics and took the silver medal in the large hill individual and the bronze in team large hill, becoming the oldest ski jumper ever to take a medal at the winter Olympics.[1]

On 29 November 2014 Kasai became the oldest World Cup winner when he shared the victory with Simon Ammann in Ruka, Finland.[2]

On 22 February 2015 Kasai won the bronze medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 in mixed team event and became the oldest medalist at the Nordic World Ski Championships. He performed for a record twelfth time in the competition.

2016: 500th World Cup start

On 4 March 2016 he was on a World Cup podium in Wisła at the age of 43 years and 272 days, which is a record for the oldest contestant to mount the podium in ski jumping history.[3] On 17 March 2016 in Planica, he reached his 500th individual start in the World Cup.[4]

2018 Olympics

Kasai finished 21st in the normal hill at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[5]

Major tournament results

Olympics
Year Place NH LH Team LH
1992 Albertville 31 26 4
1994 Lillehammer 5 14
1998 Nagano 7 — —
2002 Salt Lake City 49 41 —
2006 Turin 20 12 6
2010 Vancouver 17 8 5
2014 Sochi 8
2018 Pyeongchang 21 33 6

FIS World Nordic Ski Championships
Year Place NH LH Team NH Team LH Mixed NH
1989 Lahti 54 57 N/A 15 N/A
1991 Val di Fiemme — 36 11
1993 Falun 10 7 5
1995 Thunder Bay Was not qualified
1997 Trondheim
1999 Ramsau 5 10 N/A N/A
2001 Lahti 8 19 4 4
2003 Val di Fiemme N/A
2005 Oberstdorf 21 36 9 10
2007 Sapporo 34 24 N/A
2009 Liberec 30 32 N/A
2011 Oslo 26 24 5 6
2013 Val di Fiemme 35 22 N/A 5 —
2015 Falun 35 11 4
2017 Lahti 28 32 7 —

Ski Flying World Championships
Year Place Individual Team
1990 Vikersund 23 N/A
1992 Harrachov
1994 Planica 19
1996 Bad Mitterndorf 24
1998 Oberstdorf —
2000 Vikersund 5
2002 Harrachov —
2004 Planica 24 5
2006 Bad Mitterndorf — —
2008 Oberstdorf 35 7
2010 Planica 12 —
2012 Vikersund — —
2014 Harrachov 4 —
2016 Bad Mitterndorf 5 —
2018 Oberstdorf 25 —

World Cup

Standings
Season Overall 4H SF RA W5 T5 P7 NT JP
1988/89 ——N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1989/90 2419N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1990/91 —73—N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1991/92 9—7N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1992/93 —N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1993/94 6419N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
1995/96 361026N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A36
1996/97 172423N/AN/AN/AN/A1115
1997/98 102413N/AN/AN/AN/A410
1998/99 N/AN/AN/AN/A4
1999/00 152010N/AN/AN/AN/A914
2000/01 4128N/AN/AN/AN/A23N/A
2001/02 2331N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A20N/A
2002/03 1323N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A6N/A
2003/04 88N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A10N/A
2004/05 1611N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A26N/A
2005/06 219N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A15N/A
2006/07 2634N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A20N/A
2007/08 3434N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A30N/A
2008/09 151320N/AN/AN/AN/A13N/A
2009/10 1711—N/AN/AN/AN/A8N/A
2010/11 253131N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2011/12 513345N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2012/13 244217N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2013/14 55N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2014/15 644N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2015/16 875N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2016/17 152948N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2017/18 2640924—N/A13N/AN/A
2018/19 3742264239N/A28N/AN/A
2019/20 ——————N/AN/AN/A

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1991/9222 March 1992   HarrachovČerťák K180FH
2 1992/931 January 1993   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
3 23 January 1993   PredazzoTrampolino dal Ben K120LH
4 6 March 1993   LahtiSalpausselkä K90NH
5 1993/949 January 1994   MurauHans-Walland Großschanze K120LH
6 1997/9822 March 1998   PlanicaBloudkova velikanka K120LH
7 1998/993 January 1999   InnsbruckBergiselschanze K120LH
8 29 January 1999   WillingenMühlenkopfschanze K120LH
9 31 January 1999   WillingenMühlenkopfschanze K120LH
10 9 March 1999   TrondheimGranåsen K120 (night)LH
11 14 March 1999   OsloHolmenkollbakken K115LH
12 21 March 1999   PlanicaVelikanka bratov Gorišek K185FH
13 2000/011 January 2001   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K115LH
14 2002/039 February 2003   WillingenMühlenkopfschanze K120LH
15 2003/0428 February 2004   Park CityUtah Olympic Park K120LH
16 2013/1411 January 2014   Tauplitz/Bad MitterndorfKulm HS200FH
17 2014/1529 November 2014   KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH

Individual starts (569)

Kasai was three times on the starting list but did not start, at Bischofshofen in 1997, Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1998, and Lahti in 2014.

winner (1); second (2); third (3); did not compete (–); failed to qualify (q): did not start (DNS)
Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Points
1988/89 0
– – – – 31 26 – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
1989/90 43
27 18 9 7 20 40 26 15 16 30 – – – 18 26 51 7 24 7 10 14 28 50 22 68
1990/91 0
47 39 53 51 61 36 47 57 q q 18 – – – – – – – – – – –
1991/92 115
11 13 11 6 – – – – – – – – – 3 6 2 6 60 13 1 7
1992/93 172
34 7 21 14 43 3 1 3 2 1 – – 1 4 4 4 27
1993/94 562
15 5 31 12 27 14 13 3 2 1 – – 6 5 3 17 19 45 10
1995/96 132
– – – – – – – 37 14 12 9 17 – – 52 35 – – 21 22 17 18 28 q – – – –
1996/97 351
15 25 7 23 6 18 31 20 12 DNS – – 16 21 2 18 15 33 11 41 27 27 12 20 q
1997/98 720
3 7 7 17 10 4 7 6 DNS 25 30 – – – – – 37 14 3 5 17 8 16 2 30 4 1
1998/99 1598
5 37 5 6 3 12 13 2 3 3 1 4 3 3 5 11 6 12 1 1 – 3 5 1 4 1 4 3 1
1999/00 436
5 13 5 17 16 34 14 47 18 13 17 44 11 8 29 11 31 22 30 – 42 8 18 7 17 5
2000/01 728
48 2 18 2 1 3 44 7 11 18 4 10 4 7 4 18 6 8 44 19 18
2001/02 219
19 23 25 21 7 25 30 – – q 37 28 20 15 – – 8 3 – 22 25 28
2002/03 548
12 22 11 9 19 17 20 17 21 22 13 39 – – – 9 10 22 10 10 12 1 5 6 16 36 7
2003/04 631
12 18 21 6 10 5 6 6 11 – – – – 49 8 2 3 15 1 9 11 16 16
2004/05 416
6 6 14 9 11 5 10 25 15 15 20 10 13 34 22 – – – – 9 7 18 25 29 27 31 39 31
2005/06 249
q 41 32 21 38 39 19 13 12 9 11 24 4 – – 21 19 19 13 14 31 28
2006/07 182
50 – – – – q 3 28 42 – – – – 33 15 17 15 19 36 9 12 37 28 24
2007/08 122
11 15 17 26 11 – – q 25 39 30 q q – – – 25 42 25 19 34 27 35 35 27 q 32
2008/09 409
47 33 q 29 6 q 19 17 16 6 19 – – – – 9 12 – 3 21 – 34 5 9 6 28 7
2009/10 344
10 49 30 13 15 35 13 13 9 19 – – 6 2 – – – – – 11 16 9 19
2010/11 197
24 16 27 29 35 29 46 22 21 22 – – – 11 14 27 25 5 25 DQ 18 25 20 25 q –
2011/12 45
– – – – – – – 35 29 36 56 – – – – 15 33 42 q 32 29 24 24 23 28 –
2012/13 328
19 10 7 20 30 25 24 q 41 34 23 – – 11 19 – – – – – – 9 19 12 12 4 4
2013/14 1062
27 5 10 4 6 3 – – 6 6 7 5 1 3 – – 3 6 4 4 3 DNS 9 8 3 4 6 5
2014/15 1137
6 3 1 11 17 – – – – 8 8 3 2 5 8 9 6 8 9 9 5 11 3 5 5 13 10 4 2 5 8
2015/16 909
5 30 17 – – 3 10 5 12 7 9 – – 4 3 3 3 7 10 7 16 14 10 7 3 12 6 7 4
2016/17 401
18 24 26 32 33 21 21 31 37 10 14 17 17 23 37 14 12 35 50 21 35 13 15 2 4 3
2017/18 164
31 q – – 10 42 48 46 q 18 48 5 24 – – q 30 18 46 10 11 22
2018/19 88
q 38 38 35 34 49 30 q 32 32 32 44 40 33 32 7 29 21 11 46 40 36 28 36 q q 19 –
2019/20 0
q q q 45 33 – – – – – – – – – – – q 36 – – – – – – – – –

Records

During his career, Kasai broke numerous ski jumping records and age milestones. He is the oldest athlete to ever perform in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and holds the record for the most appearances in the competition, with a total of 569 individual starts (640 including team events) in 31 seasons between 1988–89 and 2019–20.[6][7] Kasai also holds a record number of appearances in ski jumping at the Winter Olympics (21 starts), FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (42 starts), and FIS Ski Flying World Championships (13 starts).[8][9][10] In 2016, he was awarded with two Guinness World Records certificates for the "most appearances in FIS Nordic World Ski Championships by an individual ski jumper" and "most individual starts in FIS Ski Jumping World Cup competitions".[11] In November 2014, Kasai became the oldest individual World Cup event winner, aged 42 years and 5 months.[2][12] He is also the oldest competitor to make a World Cup podium, aged 44 years and 9 months.[13]

Kasai is the first athlete in history to participate at eight Winter Olympics (between 1992 and 2018).[14] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he became the oldest Olympic medalist in ski jumping after winning a silver medal aged 41 years and 254 days.[1]

Personal life

On 30 January 2016 his wife gave birth to their daughter named Rino.[15][16]

gollark: Bartering? Bees?
gollark: As planned. <@160279332454006795> <@734140198236979302> do thing.
gollark: 8.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: [REDACTED], but my statement is technically true.

See also

References
  1. "Soczi 2014: Noriaki Kasai wyskakał srebro dla chorej siostry". PolskieRadio.pl (in Polish). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. R. K. (10 March 2016). "500? Lepo, toda 6 je moja srečna številka. Grem na 600!" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. "SKI FLYING INDIVIDUAL - PLANICA, 17-20 MARCH 2016" (PDF). fis-ski.com. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  4. "Kasai places sixth in 500th World Cup event". japantimes.co.jp. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  5. Bethea, Charles. Noriaki Kasai, the Japanese Ski-Jumping Legend Going for Gold at Forty-Five. The New Yorker. February 14, 2018.
  6. "KASAI Noriaki – Athlete Information". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  7. "KASAI Noriaki – All appearances". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  8. "KASAI Noriaki – Olympic Winter Games". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  9. "KASAI Noriaki – World Ski Championships". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  10. "KASAI Noriaki – FIS Ski Flying World Championships". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  11. Rachel Swatman (31 January 2016). "Japanese athlete Noriaki Kasai accepts record certificates at FIS Ski Jumping World Cup". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  12. "SKI JUMPING/ Kasai rewrites record book for oldest winner". The Asahi Shimbun. 1 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014.
  13. "Stoch wins ski jump WCup round, Kasai beats own age record". SI.com. Vikersund. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  14. Lutz, Rachel (8 February 2018). "Noriaki Kasai sets record with 8th Winter Olympics appearance". OlympicTalk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  15. "Noriaki Kasai został ojcem!". www.skijumping.pl (in Polish). 31 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  16. Da. B. (2 February 2016). "Noriaki Kasai postal očka". zurnal24.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 11 February 2019.
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Tomomi Okazaki		 Flagbearer for  Japan
2018 Pyeongchang
(with Sara Takanashi)		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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