“I’ve reached my limit,” 45 year old Japanese Olympic athlete Kazuhiro Koshi told reporters from his country. Koshi, considered by his peers to be the pioneer of skeleton racing in Japan, showed strong signs of looking to retire competitively after finishing 20th overall in Vancouver on February 19th. However, it may not be the end of his nearly two decade long story.

Kazuhiro Koshi started off with dreams of Olympic gold out of university. Born in Nagano, the home of the 1998 winter Olympics, Koshi undoubtedly grew up surrounded by winter sports. He originally aimed to become a bobsledder for the 1992 Albertville Olympics, but after failing to be selected he switched his focus to skeleton.

However, at the time he decided to change it is reported that there were virtually no serious skeleton racers in Japan. In order to advance to an international competitive level, which he finally did by the late 1990s, he had to take advice from experts in foreign countries and train rigorously.

In the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Koshi placed 8th in skeleton, and in 2006 he placed 11th in Turin.

This year, he competed as the oldest athlete in Japanese winter Olympic history. However, he barely managed to make the cut into the fourth and final heat of the Vancouver race.

Back in Japan at his alma mater, Sendai University, around eighty supporters gathered to watch an internet broadcast and cheer him on, the Yomiuri reported. Koshi’s fourth run turned into his best of the competition, but his combined run score was still +5.55 seconds behind the gold medal winner from Canada.  He finished 20th overall, right behind his younger teammate, Shinsuke Tayama.

Regardless, his supporters expressed warm feelings, making comments such as, “Just like Koshi; he found a line and made a beautiful run,” and “I want to tell him a job well done.”

While Koshi indicated his intention to retire from competition, “My skeleton is past it’s time,” he did not state that he was finished with the sport. “I wasn’t able to get [an Olympic] medal as a competitor,” he stated, “but my next gold-medal challenge is to use my experience to help the next generation win.”

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