The SSF looks back on major sports developments during 2022, with a focus on the results of a web survey—conducted from November 28 to December 7, 2022—to identify the 10 most memorable sports stories and 10 standout athletes of the year.
We use cookies to optimize and continuously improve our website for individual users. By closing this banner or continuing to view the website, you are agreeing to the use of cookies for this purpose, as detailed in our Privacy Policy.
The SSF looks back on major sports developments during 2022, with a focus on the results of a web survey—conducted from November 28 to December 7, 2022—to identify the 10 most memorable sports stories and 10 standout athletes of the year.
Yuzuru Hanyu announces his retirement from competitive figure skating at a press conference in July 2022. ©Takamitsu Mifune / Photo Kishimoto
| What were the most memorable sports-related news events of 2022? | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Figure Skating Two-time Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu announces his retirement from active competition and his decision to turn professional (July). |
| 2 | Beijing 2022 Figure skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno win the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s singles, while Kaori Sakamoto wins the bronze in the women’s singles (February). |
| 3 | World Figure Skating Championships Shoma Uno wins the men’s singles and Yuma Kagiyama places second. Kaori Sakamoto wins the women’s singles event (March). |
| 4 | Beijing 2022 Ayumu Hirano wins the gold medal in the men’s snowboarding halfpipe, becoming the first Japanese athlete to win medals in the same event at three consecutive Winter Games (February). |
| 5 | Gymnastics Kohei Uchimura, two-time consecutive all-around Olympic champion and six-time consecutive world champion, announces his retirement (March). |
| 6 | Other Russia invades Ukraine, resulting in the ban of Russian athletes at various international events, including the Beijing 2022 Paralympics and FIFA World Cup qualifiers (February). |
| 7 | Soccer Japan upsets four-time champion Germany 2-1 in the first round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar (November). |
| 8 | Beijing 2022 The ruling allowing Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 15, to compete despite testing positive for a banned substance sparks worldwide outrage (February). |
| 9 | Major League Baseball Shohei Ohtani of the LA Angels becomes the first player in 104 years to reach double-digits in both wins and home runs, last achieved by Babe Ruth in 1918 (August). |
| 10 | Speed Skating Nao Kodaira, gold medalist in the women’s 500 m at PyeongChang 2018, wins her final race after having announced she would retire from active competition (October). |
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani had another stellar year in 2022. ©USA Today Sports/Reuters/Aflo
| Which Japanese athlete had a successful year in 2022? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani (baseball) | 6 | Munetaka Murakami (baseball) |
| 2 | Ayumu Hirano (snowboarding) | 7 | Miho Takagi (speed skating) |
| 3 | Shoma Uno (figure skating) | 8 | Roki Sasaki (baseball) |
| 4 | Shingo Kunieda (wheelchair tennis) | 9 | Yuma Kagiyama (figure skating) |
| 5 | Kaori Sakamoto (figure skating) | 10 | Ryoyu Kobayashi (ski jumping) |
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to force the cancellation or postponement of sporting events in 2022, but increasingly numbers of venues were opened to spectators. The success of Japanese athletes at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in February thrilled fans in Japan, leading many SSF survey respondents to cite Beijing 2022–related news and athletes. The announcement by two-time gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu to step down from competitive figure skating and turn professional was the top-ranked response to the question about the most memorable sports story of the year. Shohei Ohtani of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels continued his phenomenal two-way success in pitching and hitting last year, ranking first in the question about the year’s standout athletes.
A surge of Omicron-variant infections greeted the start of 2022 in Japan, with quasi-state-of-emergency measures being imposed in Tokyo and 12 other prefectures on January 21. While such traditional start-of-year events as the Hakone Ekiden, the All Japan Industrial Teams Men’s “New Year’s Ekiden,” and the All-Japan High School Soccer Tournament went ahead as scheduled, the Emperor’s Cup Inter Prefectural Men’s Ekiden, the All-Japan Judo Championships (Kodokan Cup), and the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Championships were canceled or postponed.
Helping to lift the nation’s spirits, though, was the outstanding performance of Japanese athletes—much like during Tokyo 2020—at the Beijing Olympic Games, which began on February 4, and the Paralympic Games, which opened on March 4. Casting a pall on the cheerful mood, though, was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, prompting a ban on the participation of Russian athletes at international competitions, including the Beijing Paralympics.
Snowboarder Ayumu Hirano after winning the gold medal in the men’s halfpipe at Beijing 2022. ©Takao Fujita / Photo Kishimoto
Professional baseball embarked on the “living with COVID” phase when the 2022 season opened in March with the lifting of limits on stadium capacity but retaining some restrictions on cheering. And in April, the government announced its Third Sport Basic Plan, which includes measures to pass on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games and enhance the value of sports for individuals and society.
The activities of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) came to a close roughly eight years after its establishment and a year following the end of Tokyo 2020. Just as efforts were being launched to consolidate the Games’ legacy, a financial scandal involving a TOCOG executive board member came to light, resulting in the arrest of several people. In November, the Sports Agency launched a project team to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
As for other big sports stories during the year, Shohei Ohtani became the first MLB player in 104 years to reach double-digits in both wins (as a pitcher) and home runs (as a hitter), a feat last achieved by Babe Ruth in 1918. In boxing, Naoya Inoue became the undisputed bantamweight world champion—and the first Japanese to hold the title of four different sanctioning bodies. Japanese athletes also performed well at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the World Games—an international multi-sport event held every four years—held in Birmingham, United States. In Qatar, Japan advanced to the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup for the second consecutive time, generating great domestic excitement for the Samurai Blue.
As for participatory sports, around a decade has passed since the Sports Promotion Law was amended and renamed the Basic Act on Sport in 2011. And 2022 saw the launch of the Third Sport Basic Plan covering fiscal years 2022 to 2026. Starting in fiscal 2023, responsibility for supervising the sports club activities of secondary schools on weekends and holidays will gradually shift from teachers to local sports clubs and other organizations.
Sports policy has been an important part of efforts to address a variety of emerging societal challenges. At the same time, there are many more ways in which sports can contribute to people’s physical and mental health and social well-being, as well as mitigate the negative consequences of population aging and growing economic and regional disparities.
The SSF will continue to actively issue policy proposals and advance joint research with local governments to identify truly effective sports policies and promote community-based initiatives. We will also carry on with rigorous research aimed at tapping the power of sports to achieve a longer healthy life expectancy and a more dynamic and inclusive society.