Japan Smashes Medal Record at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

In the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, held in February 2026, Japan set a new record for its highest total number of medals in winter competition, with 24 won by athletes in a range of sports. This included four gold medals for individual snowboarders, as well as the gold for Miura Riku and Kihara Ryūichi in the figure skating pairs. Japan’s five gold medals matched its achievement at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. Speed skater Takagi Miho also reached a career total of 10 Olympic medals, which is the highest number for any female Japanese athlete in summer or winter competition.

When the Winter Olympics were first held at the base of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, in 1924, the Summer Olympics had already been going for 28 years. These games had 16 events, with 258 athletes from 16 countries participating (Japan did not join). The first time that Japan participated was at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz, with a team of six competing in the cross-country skiing event. However, the team went home without any medals.

Japan obtained its first medal at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, when Igaya Chiharu won silver in the alpine skiing men’s slalom event. Then, when Japan hosted the Winter Olympics for the first time in Sapporo in 1972, the host team won three medals: one gold, one silver, and one bronze.

From 1980 at Lake Placid in the United States through 2026, Japan has won medals in 13 consecutive winter games. It hit double figures for the first time in 1998 with 10 at the Nagano Olympics, and has set successive records for its total at the past three competitions.

Medals Earned by Japan at the Winter Olympics

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Jiji.)