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.
During his career, Kasai has broken numerous ski jumping records. In 2016, he 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. At World Cup level, Kasai competed for a total of 35 seasons between 1988–89 and 2025–26.
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.
On 29 November 2014, Kasai became the oldest World Cup winner when he shared the victory with Simon Ammann in Ruka, Finland.
2016: 500th World Cup start On 4 March 2016, Kasai 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. On 17 March 2016, he made his 500th individual start in the World Cup.
2018 Olympics Kasai finished 21st in the normal hill event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
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 579 individual starts in 35 seasons between 1988–89 and 2025–26. 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). 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 "the most individual starts in FIS Ski Jumping World Cup competitions". In November 2014, Kasai became the oldest individual World Cup event winner, aged 42 years and 5 months. He is also the oldest competitor to make a World Cup podium, aged 44 years and 9 months.
Kasai is the first athlete in history to participate at eight Winter Olympics (between 1992 and 2018). 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.
Personal life On 30 January 2016, his wife gave birth to their daughter, Rino.
Major tournament results Olympics YearPlaceTeam LH1992 Albertville312641994 Lillehammer5141998 Nagano7 — —2002 Salt Lake City4941 —2006 Turin201262010 Vancouver17852014 Sochi82018 Pyeongchang21336
FIS World Nordic Ski Championships YearPlaceTeam NHTeam LHMixed NH1989 Lahti5457N/A15N/A1991 Val di Fiemme —36111993 Falun10751995 Thunder Baydid not qualify1997 Trondheim1999 Ramsau510N/AN/A2001 Lahti819442003 Val di FiemmeN/A2005 Oberstdorf21369102007 Sapporo3424N/A2009 Liberec3032N/A2011 Oslo2624562013 Val di Fiemme3522N/A5 —2015 Falun351142017 Lahti28327 —
Ski Flying World Championships YearPlaceIndividualTeam1990 Vikersund23N/A1992 Harrachov1994 Planica191996 Bad Mitterndorf241998 Oberstdorf —2000 Vikersund52002 Harrachov —2004 Planica2452006 Bad Mitterndorf — —2008 Oberstdorf3572010 Planica12 —2012 Vikersund — —2014 Harrachov4 —2016 Bad Mitterndorf5 —2018 Oberstdorf25 —
World Cup results Standings Season Overall 1988–89 — — N/A N/A N/A N/A 1989–90 24 19 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1990–91 — 73 — N/A N/A N/A 1991–92 9 — 7 N/A N/A N/A 1992–93 — N/A N/A N/A 1993–94 6 4 19 N/A N/A N/A 1995–96 36 10 26 N/A N/A 36 1996–97 17 24 23 N/A 11 15 1997–98 10 24 13 N/A 4 10 1998–99 N/A 4 1999–00 15 20 10 N/A 9 14 2000–01 4 12 8 N/A 23 N/A 2001–02 23 31 N/A N/A 28 N/A 2002–03 13 23 N/A N/A 6 N/A 2003–04 8 8 N/A N/A 10 N/A 2004–05 16 11 N/A N/A 26 N/A 2005–06 21 9 N/A N/A 15 N/A 2006–07 26 34 N/A N/A 20 N/A 2007–08 34 34 N/A N/A 31 N/A 2008–09 15 13 20 N/A 13 N/A 2009–10 17 11 — N/A 8 N/A 2010–11 25 31 31 N/A N/A N/A 2011–12 51 33 45 N/A N/A N/A 2012–13 24 42 17 N/A N/A N/A 2013–14 5 5 N/A N/A N/A 2014–15 6 4 4 N/A N/A N/A 2015–16 8 7 5 N/A N/A N/A 2016–17 15 29 4 8 N/A N/A2017–18 26 40 9 24 N/A N/A2018–19 37 42 26 42 N/A N/A2019–20 — — — — N/A N/A2022–23 — — — — N/A N/A2023–24 58 — 38 45 N/A N/A2024–25 — — — — N/A N/A2025–26 — — — N/A N/A N/A
Individual wins No. Season Date Location Hill Size11991–92 22 March 1992 Harrachov (SF-WCS) Čerťák K180 21992–93 1 January 1993 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 323 January 1993 Predazzo Trampolino dal Ben K120 LH46 March 1993 Lahti Salpausselkä K90 51993–94 9 January 1994 Murau Hans-Walland Großschanze K120 LH61997–98 22 March 1998 Planica Bloudkova velikanka K120 LH71998–99 3 January 1999 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K120 LH829 January 1999 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K120 LH931 January 1999 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K120 LH109 March 1999 Trondheim Granåsen K120 LH1114 March 1999 Oslo Holmenkollbakken K115 LH1221 March 1999 Planica Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185 FH132000–01 1 January 2001 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K115 LH142002–03 9 February 2003 Willingen Mühlenkopfschanze K120 LH152003–04 28 February 2004 Park City Utah Olympic Park K120 LH162013–14 11 January 2014 Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm HS200 FH172014–15 29 November 2014 Kuusamo Rukatunturi HS142 LH
Individual starts 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 32 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 12DNS – – 16 21 2 18 15 33 11 41 27 27 12 20 q 1997–98 720 3 7 7 17 10 4 7 6DNS 25 30 – – – – – 37 14 3 5 17 8 16 2 30 4 1 1998–99 1,598 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 182001–02 219 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 1,062 27 5 10 4 6 3 – – 6 6 7 5 1 3 – – 3 6 4 4 3DNS 9 8 3 4 6 5 2014–15 1,137 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 32017–18 164 31 q – – 10 42 48 46 q 18 48 5 24 – – q 30 18 46 10 11 222018–19 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 – – – – – – – – – 2022–23 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – –qq – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –2023–24 10 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 30 43 – – 38 28 47 q 49 39 27 – 29 –
See also List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
References
External links