Zhangjiakou, China, February 18, 2022: A sport that involves ski jumping and an energy-sapping cross-country race through the snow attracts a special kind of athlete.
"We say that Nordic Combined is the game of the maniac,” Japan’s double bronze medal-winner at Beijing 2022, Akito Watabe, told a press conference on Friday.
"I think, with this year, it’s high time we get more people to watch this sport, have fun getting to know the skiers’ personalities, how we compete.
"I was just thinking we can make this a new trend with the help of social media. To encourage the new generation to take part in it - to me it’s more important than achieving personal results," Watabe added.
Japan won their second bronze medal in Nordic Combined at Beijing 2022 on Thursday when they finished third in the Team Gundersen Large Hill 4 x 5km.
Japan’s team was Akito Watabe, who had won bronze in the Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km on February 15, his brother Yoshito Watabe, Hideaki Nagai and Ryota Yamamoto.
Akito said they had been preparing hard for the Winter Olympics.
"To be honest we had more time training together than other teams. We haven’t gone home for five months and have been training extensively since November this season.
“It’s not just my brother but each and every one of us in the team has become family to me, my teammates, our staff. I don’t have any special feelings for Yoshito just because he is my brother (laughs).”
Norway won the team event in 50:45.1 followed by Germany in 51:40.0, 54.9 seconds behind. Japan finished third in 51:40.3, 55.2 seconds back, to take bronze.
Nagai, 38, said his teammates gave him the motivation to continue. "You can’t do this without passion. It’s the people who are in this together with me, supporting me, that kept me going.
"The medal has certainly gained attention for Nordic Combined from the general public in Japan. We will work harder in the following World Cup, for sure, because we don’t want people to say that us getting a medal is a total fluke."
Photo: Team Japan
