Hangzhou, China, October 8, 2023: Japan wrapped up their participation in the 19th Asian Games by finishing second to host China in the medal count. Japan’s final tally was 52 golds, 67 silver, 69 bronze for a total of 188 overall.
On Sunday, Japan Chef de Mission Mitsui Ogata and Deputy Chef de Mission Kosei Inoue gave their thoughts on the team’s performance at a press conference in the Main Media Centre.
“We encouraged our athletes to go ‘Beyond Your Limits’ to achieve their goals,” Ogata stated. “I believe our team’s performance is worth praise. Our athletes have given their best and gotten good results. We will take the memories of Hangzhou to Nagoya in three years.”
When asked why Japan’s medal count was reduced from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ogata cited the “dominating performance by China and surprising showing by India” as primary reasons along with Japan not having the “home advantage” this time around.
Ogata also noted that Japan had sent younger athletes to compete in Hangzhou as others were busy with trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics at other competitions.
Ogata struck a positive tone in his overall analysis.
“We did make several breakthroughs here including in softball, fencing, and water polo,” Ogata commented. “We have also qualified many athletes for the Paris Olympics. That is why our performance was satisfactory.”
Inoue was encouraged by what he saw from the Japanese athletes.
“The Hangzhou Games have been a great success. Our athletes have displayed great techniques and good spirit during the competitions,” Inoue remarked. “We have been following our slogan of ‘Go Beyond Your Limits.’ I believe our athletes will take their experiences here to future competitions.”
Inoue mentioned new initiatives that were introduced here to assist Team Japan and talked about the future.
“We provided innovative support to our athletes and coaches at the village with the Japan Lounge,” Inoue said. “We have a mid to long term support plan. We will collaborate more closely with stakeholders in the future to get better results. The funding by public organizations and private foundations is important.”
Inoue noted that some areas where improvements could be made were identified.
“We did find some issues here and will work with stakeholders to improve our performance at future games,” Inoue stated.