Photo/Illutration Kanoa Igarashi wins a silver medal in surfing at the Tokyo Olympics at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba Prefecture on July 27. (Kotaro Ebara)

Surfer Kanoa Igarashi rode the typhoon-generated waves to the Olympic podium, but the disappointment afterward could be heard in his voice. 

Igarashi, 23, lowered his head to the sand of Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba Prefecture after winning a silver medal in the newly added Olympic event on July 27. But his achievement fell short of the gold that he longed for.

“My strategy didn’t work out in the crucial Olympic finals,” he lamented in a chagrined tone.

While the result was not what he wanted, Igarashi made Yukie Uchino, his "No. 1 fan," proud.  

Igarashi had promised Uchino, 85, his grandmother, that he would bring home an Olympic medal to her.

GRANDMOTHER’S PRIDE AND JOY

Born and raised in California to Japanese parents, Igarashi's long sought-after goal had been winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

He has hoped his success would make a positive impact on promoting surfing as a sport in his homeland and generate as many surfing fans as possible.

His first name, “Kanoa,” means “freedom” in the Hawaiian language.

“Just like his name, he was a free-spirited child,” Uchino recalled. “I warned him not to, but he kept running around.

But the boy often gave his grandmother a shoulder massage.

Uchino said she remembers those days as if they happened only recently. The two have stayed in touch.

“My grandson is my pride and joy,” she said.

Uchino’s family runs a soba noodle restaurant in Tokyo. The eatery's “soba manju” (a traditional confection containing buckwheat flour) was Igarashi’s favorite.

“I like it hot and fresh,” Igarashi used to say, waiting at a factory near Uchino’s home.

Igarashi would get a boxful of soba manju as a souvenir when returning to the United States.

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Kanoa Igarashi wins a silver medal in surfing at the Tokyo Olympics at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba Prefecture on July 27. (Kotaro Ebara)

Igarashi travels around the world to compete in major surfing tours. Uchino follows his career and watches his competitions via a tablet device that he gave her as a present.

Naturally, Uchino has learned all the surfing rules, maneuvers and terminology. 

She said she never misses Igarashi’s heats. It does not matter if the competition is held on the other side of the world, she would even get up at 4 a.m. to watch her grandson ride the waves.

“Go! Go! Come on!” she would yell at the screen. “Yes, you did it!” she would cheer him on.

“I just don’t want him to get injured,” she said.

Kazuhiko, 52, Uchino’s son and Igarashi’s uncle, said he has been amazed by his mother's familiarity with the sport.

“I’m sure my mother is the most knowledgeable person about surfing among people in their 80s,” he said.

Uchino has collected newspaper and magazine articles featuring Igarashi.

She is proud of the fact that her grandson not only became one of the world’s top surfers but also participates in volunteer work to clean up the beaches.

“He has become a really nice man,” she said, looking at Igarashi gracing the cover of a magazine.

Igarashi could have chosen to represent the United States instead of Japan at the Tokyo Olympics. Uchino said she would be fine with that and cheer him either way.

What country he represents would not matter to her, she said.

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Yukie Uchino proudly holds magazines featuring her grandson and Olympic surfer, Kanoa Igarashi, in June in Chofu, western Tokyo. (Ken Murota)

As the Olympics neared, Igarashi often told Uchino over the phone, “I want Grandma to see me in the Olympics. I want to give you a medal. So please take care of yourself.”

Uchino promised to do so, replying, “OK. If Kanoa says so, I cannot die easily.”

She wanted the world to see Igarashi shine at the Tokyo Olympics. And she wanted to see it for herself, too.

Now Uchino is looking forward to seeing her grandson and the medal that he promised he would win for her. 

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