Japanese speed skater Tatsuya Shinhama on Saturday revealed he had been seriously hurt in a traffic accident while away for training and was being treated for injuries that were “not life-threatening.”
Tatsuya Shinhama. (Kyodo)
The 28-year-old wrote on Instagram that the accident occurred Wednesday on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, where he had been undertaking individual training, and he was currently at a Tokyo hospital with injuries to his face and knee.
“I’m fully conscious and doing fine,” Shinhama said in the post, which included a photo of him lying in a hospital bed. “I’ll have check-ups and surgeries going forward before focusing on a proper recovery.”
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympian from Hokkaido holds the Japanese record for the men’s 500 meters.
Shinhama won one race over the distance during the 2024-25 World Cup season and finished third in the overall standings.
The 2026 Winter Olympics start on Feb. 6 next year.
“For now, I’ll do my best to get back on to the ice as soon as possible,” he wrote.
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