Yabuli, China, February 10, 2025: Japan’s Haruki Yamashita broke China's golden stranglehold in the snow events at the 9th Asian Winter Games when he won the cross-country skiing men’s 10 kilometre race in Yabuli on Monday, February 10.
Monday blues? Forget it. Yamashita was over the moon with his performance as it somewhat made amends for missing out on a silver medal two days previously in the men’s sprint classic when he finished in second place but was disqualified due to a violation.
“I was really frustrated after missing out on a silver medal after being disqualified the day before yesterday. Today, I gave it my all and I’m really glad to win,” said the 25-year-old Yamashita.
Like the bullet train that plies from Harbin to Yabuli at rapid speed, China’s Yabuli express – the contingent of athletes in the snow events - have been unstoppable over the past few days as the hosts play the role of King Midas with everything touched turning to gold.
But Japanese duo Yamashita and Takatsugu Uda had obviously not read the script as they charged to victory, completing a tricky 10km course in 21 minutes and six seconds and 21:16 respectively.
“I was able to accelerate from the start and I was able to build up speed and push all the way. I executed my plan perfectly,” revealed Yamashita, who represented Japan at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Teammate Uda was extremely happy to have set a personal best time on his way to the silver medal. “I was fortunate to achieve my personal best in this event. The course was a bit difficult but I’m quite adept at uphill skiing. This silver medal was hard-earned and it means a lot to me,” he said.
Kazakhstan’s Olzhas Klimin held off Chinese pair Bao Lin and Wang Qiang to win the bronze medal in 21:20.
It was back to normal service in the other three gold medal events on Monday with China winning the men’s and women’s snowboard Big Air events and the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials.
Yang Wenlong won the men’s snowboard Big Air competition while Xiong Shirui took gold in the women’s event. In the mixed team aerials, China took the gold with silver going to Kazakhstan and Japan claiming the bronze.
Photos: Xinhua
