Kotomi Ishizaki Explained

Kotomi Ishizaki
Gender:	F
Birth Date:	4 January 1979
Birth Place:	Asahikawa, Japan ^[1]
Curling Club:	Loco Solare, Kitami, Hokkaido
Skip:	Satsuki Fujisawa
Third:	Chinami Yoshida
Second:	Yumi Suzuki
Lead:	Yurika Yoshida
Alternate:	Kotomi Ishizaki
World Championship Appearances:	6
Pacific Championship Appearances:	10
Pan Continental Championship Appearances:	2
Olympic Appearances:	3 (2002, 2010, 2022)
Grand Slam Victories:	1 (2023 Canadian Open)

is a Japanese curler from Sapporo.

Career

She made her World Championship debut at the 2003 Winnipeg World Championships playing lead for Shinobu Aota's team from Japan. She would return to the world championships in 2004 with the same team.

Her next World Championships came in 2008, where the Japanese women (along with Team China) became the first team from the Pacific region to qualify for the Playoffs at the World Championships. Ishizaki and her team, skipped by Moe Meguro, defeated Team Switzerland in the 3 vs. 4 Playoff match. In the Semifinal, they nearly defeated Team Canada and went to the Bronze Medal match to face a rematch against Team Switzerland. They would lose this match 9 - 7, which would become the second-best performance by a Pacific region team at the Curling World Championships.

Kotomi Ishizaki played Lead position for Team Japan at the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[2] and at the 2010 Ford World Women's Curling Championship.

Ishizaki was chosen as an alternate member for Team Japan at the 2022 Winter Olympics, in which they won first-ever silver medals. Ishizaki became the oldest Japanese athlete to win a medal at the Winter Olympics at age 43 years and 1 month, surpassing Noriaki Kasai, who won 2 medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics at age 41 years and 8 months.