Daisuke Takahashi, pioneering Japanese figure skater, retires again
Daisuke Takahashi, who after an Olympic medal-winning singles figure skating career came back to ice dance, has retired along with partner Kana Muramoto, according to Japanese media citing a video on their Instagram.
Takahashi, 37, and Muramoto, 30, won a national title and placed 11th and 16th at the last two world championships after teaming up during the pandemic in 2020.
Takahashi switched to ice dance after his singles farewell at the December 2019 Japanese Championships. In 2018, he returned to singles skating after a four-year retirement.
Takahashi’s greatest success came in 2010, when he became the first Japanese man to win an Olympic figure skating medal (bronze) and a world title. His first retirement came after placing sixth at his third Olympics in 2014.
Muramoto was a singles skater through her teens, then competed in the 2018 Olympics in dance with Chris Reed. Reed retired in 2019. In March 2020, Reed died of a sudden cardiac issue at age 30.
Muramoto and Takahashi made their competitive debut as a dance couple in November 2020 and missed the 2022 Olympic team by one spot.
Takahashi was trying to become the first figure skater to compete in the Olympics in their career in both singles and ice dance as medal events, according to Olympedia.org.
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Daisuke Takahashi, pioneering Japanese figure skater, retires again originally appeared on NBCSports.com
