Daito Takahashi

Three-time Olympian Daito Takahashi of Japan made his Olympic début at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City where he had two top-10 individual finishes. At Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010, his best finishes were sixth each time as a member of the Japanese Nordic combined team event.

Takahashi’s top finishes at the World Championships were tenth on two occasions (15 km individual in 2003, 7.5 km sprint in 2005). At the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo, he crashed during the ski jump portion of the 7.5 km sprint and had to be taken to the hospital, unable to finish the competition. Takahashi had 197 World Cup starts, with seven podium finishes and two victories, both at Lahti, Finland, and on successive days in March 2004 (7.5 km sprint, and 15 km individual).

Takahashi, who studied at Tokai University Yoyogi Campus, was born in one of the northernmost mountainous regions of Japan. This was an important factor at the start of his sporting career as snow was a large part of his daily life. As a youth, his hobbies included many winter sports including skiing and snowboarding, before he became an elite athlete.