Re Interview

Misaki
Emura 江村 美咲

2023.2.24

After Achieving Numerous “Firsts for a Japanese Female Athlete” in 2022, the Next Goal is Olympic Gold

After a perfect preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, Misaki Emura made it to the third round in individual competition and fifth place overall as a team. She suffered burnout for a while afterwards, but turned things around after the arrival of new coaching staff for the national team. Breaking out of her own shell, Emura made rapid progress with a new style of fencing. She garnered even greater attention after becoming the first Japanese woman to win world championship titles. Now, Emura must face the pressure of being the gold medal favorite for the Paris Olympics.

―Did anything change for you as a result of competing at the Tokyo Olympics?

I performed at my peak, but didn’t get the results I had hoped for. I agonized over what went wrong. But then a new coach was appointed to the national team, and as I learned more about the European style of strategy, mindset, and technique, I started to believe that I still had scope for improvement.

―What impacted you most when the new coach was appointed?

I was overly bound up in my own fencing style, but the coach encouraged me to make some changes, advising me that the winning stroke varies depending on the day and the opponent, so sticking to a single style of fencing at all times isn’t going to work. Building on my existing strengths in footwork and speed, I added other elements that had been missing, and this helped me become the first Japanese woman champion at the Fencing World Cup, as well as achieving success at the world championships.

―Do you feel any pressure as the top performer in women’s saber competition?

In Japan right now, everyone’s level of performance is going up. I just happened to be the first to achieve top place. I don’t have any sense that I’m leading the way, and I haven’t reached an endpoint, but at competitions within Japan I do feel a weird pressure not to lose.

―Is it difficult to set your sights on the Olympics, which only comes around once every four years?

Day in day out, I try to focus on outperforming other competitors mentally, so I won’t have any regrets. In training I don’t cut any corners at all: I keep going until I’m satisfied. Committing myself in this way, to a point that I feel there’s nothing more I could do, is what got me to the Tokyo Olympics. In the end I didn’t get the results I wanted, but I approached each bout with confidence, and I think that’s all I can do from here on, too. Although things aren’t perfect, I feel solid now both mentally and technically, so I’d like to maintain this state and continue to improve.

―What’s your next goal?

The race for Olympic selection begins in April. Little by little, I’m starting to achieve my goal of appearing on the medal dais consistently. This goal won’t change going forward: at the Paris Olympics I want to win gold in both individual and team events. That’s the ultimate goal in my field of vision at the moment. The question of what might lie beyond that doesn’t even cross my mind.