TOMAKOMAI, Japan — Yurie Adachi laughed at the photograph, as if she was revisiting an embarrassing high school yearbook portrait. The photo, taken during a practice at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, showed her on her stomach, posing with her hands on her cheeks, her skates kicking up in the air.
It seemed fun at the time. Instead of performing drills that day, Adachi and her teammates on the Japanese women’s national hockey team had been allowed to frolic on the ice and soak in the moment. Many observers at the time perceived Japan as just being happy to have qualified after a 16-year Olympic absence.
