Japan's first fencing silver medalist, Yuki Ota, uses NFTs to support athletes' second careers

Japan's first silver medalist in fencing

Connecting athletes and fans with ideas and technology

Please tell us about your career. 

Yuki Ota (hereinafter Ota): I was an athlete until 2016, and after retiring from active competition, I served as the president of the Japan Fencing Association, and now I am a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and an outside director of a listed company, and I am also working on an NFT project called "Sports3" in collaboration with Drecom.

My activities are diverse, but my main focus is sports and human resource development. I am always looking at new technologies and businesses, and I am focused on exploring new challenges.

What challenges do athletes face in their post-retirement careers?

Ota: The athletes that many people know are only a handful who stand at the top of the competitive world.

I was lucky, and after winning Japan's first Olympic medal in fencing in 2008, I was given the opportunity to appear in many media.

However, nowadays, as the Japanese sports world as a whole has become stronger, it is not so common for athletes to become known just by winning a medal.

In addition, there are many athletes who are active in sports other than the Olympics, so not all athletes are recognized in the same way as athletes who appear on TV.

The reality is that many athletes not only struggle after retirement, but also struggle to continue their activities while they are still active.

Are there any difficult aspects to continuing their activities as an active athlete?

Ota: Yes, there are. In order to continue their activities, they need funds. In light of such challenges, we thought it was important to provide a place where athletes and fans can interact more closely.

We hope to create a new connection with athletes by creating an environment where fans can directly support athletes and an opportunity for companies to participate as sponsors.

When people want to support something, they need some kind of connection. For example, I think that an organization related to one's affiliation or hometown can lead to support, such as the Hakone Ekiden or high school baseball.

We would like to use NFTs as one option to deepen such personal connections. I thought that by owning the same NFT, fans could form a community to support each other together.

Based on this idea, I decided to launch "Sports3," an NFT project dedicated to sports.

What was the impetus for starting "Sports3," which you launched in collaboration with Drecom?