Noriaki Kasai

Okay, I have to tip my hat here, because Noriaki Kasai is one of those athletes who genuinely makes me rethink what a human body is allowed to do. Ski jumping always struck me as a young person's gamble, all nerve and fast-twitch fearlessness, yet this guy from tiny Shimokawa in Hokkaido kept hurling himself off the hill into his forties and beyond, racking up Olympic appearances like he was collecting stamps. Born in 1972, all 176 centimeters of him still leaning into the wind decades after most peers retired, he's less a competitor and more a force of stubborn gravity. I love that there's nothing flashy about it. The whole legend is just the refusal to stop flying, and honestly, lasting that long in the air is its own kind of quiet miracle.

Noriaki Kasai is a Japanese ski jumper and alpine skier born on June 6, 1972, in Shimokawa, Hokkaido. Widely regarded as one of the longest-serving competitors in ski jumping history, he has represented Japan across an extraordinary number of Olympic Games well into his forties. He attended Tokai University Sapporo High School. His Instagram account (nori66nori66) is the only publicly known social media presence.

Name (English)

Noriaki Kasai

Name (Japanese)

葛西紀明

Reading

かさい のりあき

Born

June 6, 1972 (age 54)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Rat (子)

Origin

Shimokawa, Hokkaido, Japan

Height

176 cm

Occupation

Ski Jumper / Alpine Skier

High school

Tokai University Sapporo High School

University

Tokai University Sapporo High School

Motto

Private

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/nori66nori66/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%91%9B%E8%A5%BF%E7%B4%80%E6%98%8E

Tags

• From Hokkaido
• Ski Jumper
• Alpine Skier

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.