March is a super-busy month on the sports calendar, with the overlap of winter and spring sports seasons. For example, basketball and baseball compete for fans' interest alongside soccer and rugby, as well as golf, tennis, speed skating, skiing and snowboarding.
There's plenty for sports fans to cheer and get excited about. Let's begin with two noteworthy feats: speed skating and basketball.
Miho Takagi defended her world title in the women's 1,000 meters at the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships. The Japanese star clocked 1 minute, 14.75 seconds to win the event in Hamar, Norway, on March 15.
Takagi finished 0.23 seconds ahead off the Netherlands' Femke Kok to claim the title in her best event.
The 30-year-old Takagi, who won the Olympic gold in the women's 1,000 at the 2022 Beijing Games, said she was pleased after repeating as world champ.
"I managed to stay tenacious until the end," Takagi said, according to Kyodo News. "There were issues and I think it wasn't the perfect race, but I have experienced the importance and difficulty of winning at this tournament.
"I'm happy with the fact I've won."
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March Delight for B.League's Golden Kings
Elsewhere, the 100th All Japan Basketball Championship, aka the Emperor's Cup, staged its title match on March 15 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo. The Ryukyu Golden Kings defeated B.League rival Alvark Tokyo 60-49 to claim their first Emperor's Cup crown.
Alex Kirk paced the Golden Kings with 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and frontcourt mate Jack Cooley had 10 points and 15 boards. Keve Aluma chipped in with nine points and floor leader Ryuichi Kishimoto finished with nine.
Ryukyu led 31-24 at halftime.
Shuto Ando had a team-high 12 points for the Alvark. Sebastian Saiz added 11 points.
The Golden Kings were the tournament runners-up in 2023 and 2024, falling to the Chiba Jets both times in the final.
Longtime Ryukyu assistant coach Keith Richardson was thrilled with the outcome of the March 15 match.
"After getting our third shot at it we finally won the Japan Emperor's Cup championship! Richardson wrote on his Facebook page. "As they say 'Third time's the charm!' "
He added, "The team fought a very tough game and prevailed at the end. [It was] the 100th anniversary of this tournament! This was for the people of Okinawa!"
The Emperor's Cup was first staged in 1922. It was not held in 1942, 1944, '45 or '46 due to the war, but it was contested in 1943.
Oketani Praises His Players' Resilience
When the fourth quarter was over, and after the players and team staff congratulated one another and saluted the fans in the stands, Ryukyu bench boss Dai Oketani summed up the team's accomplishments in the Emperor's Cup. (The Golden Kings lead the Western Conference with a 30-13 record through March 22.)
"We had games [this season] where we couldn't win close games, and we played in games where it would have been easy for the team to fall apart," Oketani said. "In the midst of all this, everyone was patient and persevering this season, and the players continued to fight together as a team. And today, everyone did what they had to do as a team, which was rewarded with the Emperor's Cup victory. They fought hard and persevered well."
In other B.League news, Chiba forward Yuta Watanabe, a former NBA player, was placed on the injury list on Saturday, March 22. He is expected to need three-to-four weeks for a left gastrocnemius muscle injury (calf strain) to heal, the team announced.
Watanabe sustained the injury on March 19 in a game against the Gunma Crane Thunders.
He is averaging 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 29 games. The Jets are 28-15, as of March 22.
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Additional Sports Glory in March
During a whirlwind week of sports activity, which included Major League Baseball's season-opening Tokyo Series (March 18-19), featuring global superstar Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the Chicago Cubs at Tokyo Dome, outdoor sports also grabbed the spotlight.
It was a win-win opportunity for MLB to promote the game on the global stage.
In St Moritz, Switzerland, Ikuma Horishima won the men's moguls title at the 2025 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships on Wednesday, March 19.
Horishima finished first with 89.03 points, a splendid performance punctuated by a well-executed cork 1440 maneuver. Canadian rival Mikael Kingsbury placed second with 82.86 points.
"I'm very happy with the gold," Horishima told reporters in St Moritz, the FIS website reported. "Eight years ago, I got my first world championship gold. Since then, Mikael Kingsbury continued to win.
"This time I tried to get to the highest level possible and I'm happy to win the gold."
Horishima, 27, was the Olympic bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Games and the 2017 world champion in that event. He also won the dual moguls crown at worlds in 2017.
In addition, snowboarder Tsubaki Miki claimed the women's parallel slalom title at the world championships on Saturday, March 22.
Also noteworthy: Kenshiro Teraji defended his WBC flyweight title and snatched compatriot Seigo Yuri Akui's WBA title with a 12th-round technical knockout on March 13. The boxing fight was held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Olympics
Coventry Chosen as the IOC's New President
Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry was chosen as the International Olympic Committee's new president on Thursday, March 20 in Costa Navarino, Greece.
Coventry defeated six other candidates, including World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe and Morinari Watanabe, the Japanese president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
In the only round of voting needed to secure a majority of votes from 97 IOC members, Coventry received 49. Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, son of the late former IOC head honcho (1980-2001) got 28 votes. Coe received eight votes and Watanabe got four.
Outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach will leave office on June 23, handing the reins to Coventry, the first woman and the first African selected to lead the global sports governing body.
Coventry, 41, hailed the beginning of a new IOC era after the votes were tallied up.
"It's a really powerful signal," Coventry was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "[And] it's a signal that we're truly global and that we have evolved into an organization that is truly open to diversity and we're going to continue walking that road in the next eight years."
Coventry competed in five Summer Olympic Games starting in 2000. She captured a total of seven Olympic medals, including gold in the 100-meter backstroke in 2004 and the 200 back in 2008.
Reaction from FIG Chief Watanabe
Reflecting on his failed IOC presidency bid, Watanabe expressed hope for the future for another Japanese candidate.
"I feel sorry I wasn't able to meet the expectations of those who supported me," Watanabe was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.
He added, "I hope it becomes the new first step for the Japanese sporting world. [And] I hope there will be a Japanese IOC president one day."
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Boxing
2-Time Heavyweight Champ Foreman, Who Fought Twice in Japan, Dies
Legendary heavyweight boxer George Foreman passed away on Friday, March 21. He was 76.
The Texas-born fighter won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He compiled a 76-5 record (68 knockouts) in his professional career.
Big George had a pair of fights in Japan ― one as a young fighter and one in his latter years after launching a famous comeback after being retired for 10 years and becoming a preacher.
Foreman was crowned world heavyweight champion in January 1973 with a second-round TKO of Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica.
On September 1, 1973, Foreman retained his title, knocking out Jose Roman in the first round at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
Foreman lost the title in October of '74, with Muhammad Ali earning a stunning-upset victory via an eighth-round KO in Kinshasa, Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo).
Decades later, I interviewed Foreman about his life and career. Naturally, we spoke about The Rumble in the Jungle.
"People ask me, 'How did you lose the fight to Muhammad Ali?' Foreman told me in 2018. "I say he beat me with that good right hand. I loved that I was in the ring with him..."
In July 2016, during an appearance at Oxford Union in England, Foreman summed up his shock defeat to Ali this way: “He hit me with the fastest one-two combination I’d ever seen, let alone been hit with.”
Foreman's Improbable Return to the Top
In 1987, Foreman's comeback began. It ultimately resulted in him becoming the oldest heavyweight champ at age 45 in November 1994 when he stopped Michael Moorer in the 10th round to claim the IBF and WBA title belts.
Foreman returned to Japan for a second fight in November 1996 and he beat Crawford Grimsley in a unanimous decision at Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
The Associated Press published a compilation of reactions to Foreman's death on Saturday.
Briefly…
Who's leading the way in the ongoing J.League and Japan Rugby League One seasons?
Through matches of March 16, the Kashima Antlers sit atop the J.League table with 13 points (four wins, one draw, one defeat) under first-year manager Toru Oniki. The soccer season resumes on March 28.
In League One, with 12 matches played by 10 of the 12 teams, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo are the top squad with 46 points (10 wins, one draw, one defeat). Round 12 of the season concludes on Sunday, March 23.
Quote of the Week
"I'm extremely proud and honored. Kids nowadays may have the same thoughts, but if they have a wonderful baseball career, they might be able to be another major leaguer. So I want them to feel that way and try hard to catch their dream."
―Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs' first Japanese player in 2008, on playing in the majors, the Chicago Tribune reported. The former outfielder threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 1 of the MLB Tokyo Series on March 18 at Tokyo.
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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