Japan’s ski and snowboard hopefuls promise big outings in Beijing

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The Japan Ski Association pledged on Tuesday to add four ski and snowboard medals to the 2018 Winter Games during the Beijing Olympics in February.

Topping the list of hopeful athletes is Ryoyu Kobayashi, who became the first non-European to win the Men’s Ski Jumping World Cup title in the 2018-19 season and is looking to improve his skills. seventh place on his debut in Pyeongchang games.

Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on November 2, 2021, ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Kyodo) == Kyodo

While securing a victory and a runner-up in two ski jumping Grand Prix events over the summer, Kobayashi has also won all domestic competitions so far this quarter as he heads to the Opening match of the World Cup on November 20 in form.

“I feel well ahead of the winter and look forward to Beijing,” the 24-year-old said at an SAJ press conference.

Japanese athletes are expected to skip the test events for Beijing scheduled for December after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kobayashi said it was a concern “not to know the cold and the wind”, but added that it was not something he dwelled on.

Akito Watabe has won two silver medals in his four Winter Games appearances so far in the men’s Nordic combined and aims to do better in China.

“Preferably I want to get a medal that shines even brighter. I’m heading for a gold medal,” said the 33-year-old after returning to Japan at the end of last month from a training camp in the past. ‘a month in Europe.

“In my experience, test events are not something to trust. I’m excited to go out in the cold,” he said.

A medal prediction released last week by Nielsen’s Gracenote had three gold medals for Japan and they all came in skiing or snowboarding: Sara Takanashi in the women’s ski jump joined by two snowboarders to Miyabi Onitsuka in the big female air and Yuto Totsuka in the male halfpipe.

SAJ awarded Totsuka their first prize for the 2020-21 season after the 20-year-old won all titles before him, including the world championships in March.

“I’m going to roll up my sleeves to win all the tournaments,” said Totsuka, who finished 11th in 2018 on his debut with a heavy fall in the final, of the new season attending the online awards ceremony. .

“I feel the pressure (being the world champion). But I also have a lot of self-confidence and my usual performance would lead me to gold.”


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