Japanese · Chino, Nagano, Japan · Born 26 May 1986Japanese speed skater and the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic speed skating gold medal, whose 2018 500m triumph included a widely celebrated moment of sportsmanship with her rival and close friend.
Nao Kodaira was born on 26 May 1986 in Chino, Nagano Prefecture, and began skating at three, following her older sisters onto the ice. Watching the 1998 Nagano Olympics as an 11-year-old, held in her own hometown region, inspired her to devote herself fully to the sport, and she went on to graduate from Shinshu University with a degree in education while balancing elite training. Kodaira made her Olympic debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games, winning silver in the team pursuit, before a difficult 2014 Sochi Olympics that she has since called defined by 'humiliation.' She rebounded to become the first Japanese woman to win an individual world title at the 2017 World Single Distance Championships in the 500m, then swept every World Cup race in the discipline during the 2017-18 season heading into the Pyeongchang Olympics. At Pyeongchang 2018, Kodaira won gold in the 500m in Olympic-record time, becoming the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic speed skating title and, at 31, the oldest Japanese Winter Olympic gold medalist ever at the time. She added silver in the 1,000m for a two-medal Games. The moment became famous for her consoling two-time defending champion and close friend Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea after beating her, a gesture of sportsmanship celebrated across both countries. Kodaira received Japan's People's Honour Award and set 34 individual World Cup wins across her career before retiring in October 2022 after a fourth Olympics at Beijing, where an ankle injury prevented her from medaling.
Becoming the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic speed skating gold medal, and for a celebrated act of sportsmanship consoling her rival after the race
How They Played
Technically precise sprint specialist known for exceptional consistency in the 500m and remarkable composure under pressure
Lasting Impact
Remembered as a pioneering figure in Japanese speed skating and for one of the Winter Olympics' most touching displays of sportsmanship between fierce competitors and close friends
Career Honours
- 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist, 500m (first Japanese woman to win Olympic speed skating gold)
- 2018 Olympic Silver Medalist, 1,000m
- 2017 World Champion, 500m (first Japanese woman to win an individual world title)
- Japan's People's Honour Award recipient
Japanese Athletes