Natsuko Naka ( Japanese 仲 奈 津 子 , Naka Natsuko ; born July 4, 1974 as Natsuko Kanke ( 菅 家 奈 津 子 , Kanke Natsuko )) is a former Japanese skeleton pilot .
Natsuko Naka started playing skeleton in 1999 and has been a member of the Japanese national team since 2002. The Japanese made her international debut in November 2000 at a European Skeleton Cup race in Igls , where she finished 13th. The next international outing was at the 2001 Skeleton World Championship in Calgary , where Naka finished 23rd. A month later she competed in the Skeleton World Cup for the first time in Nagano , where she also came in 13th. In November of that year she achieved her first international top ten result in her first Skeleton America's Cup race in Calgary as tenth. Naka made her international breakthrough in the 2002/03 season when she always finished in the top 20 in six races. The climax of the season was the Skeleton World Championship in Nagano in 2003 , Naka finished 17th. In the following season, the Japanese achieved her best World Cup result with eleventh place in Sigulda . At the 2004 World Championships in Koenigssee she was again 17, 2005 20 in Calgary Your last international race she denied at the start of the World Cup season 2006/07 . Nationally, Naka was runner-up behind Eiko Nakayama in 2004 , and won the title a year later.
She is married to the skeleton pilot Takehito Naka .
Japan
