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Athletes to watch at Beijing 2022: Akito Watabe
Editor's Note:
The Beijing Winter Olympics are set to kick off on February 4. Global Times has picked some of the biggest names to keep an eye on.
Japan's Akito Watabe will carry the flag for the Japanese delegation at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games next month amid hopes that he can finally bring a gold medal back home.
The 33-year-old has two silver medals to his name at the Olympics, finishing second in the individual Nordic combined at both of the last two Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 and then again at Pyeongchang four years ago on the normal hill and 10-kilometer cross-country race.
His medal at Sochi was the first Japanese medal in 20 years in a Nordic skiing event and he is hoping to finally go one better and to the top of the podium at his fifth - and perhaps final - Olympic Games.
"Technically, I'm the best I've ever been," the Nordic skier told domestic media in November ahead of the World Cup season.
"All that's on my mind right now is wanting to produce the best jump and run of my entire career so I can win a gold medal.
"No matter how many times I go to the Games, it's never comfortable. It always feels like the first time.
"Without question, I want to win a gold medal this time more than ever."
His biggest challenge will come from Germany, which is where Watabe trained ahead of the current season.
The Winter Games are in his blood and it was in his hometown of Nagano where a 10-year-old Watabe watched the ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics and fell in love with the sport. Just eight years later the teenager was still studying in high school when he made his Olympics debut at Turin 2006.
Gold is his aim and he sees it in fitting terms. "It feels like a mountain to me. Lately, that's the way I see it. There is a mountain I haven't been able to climb and I want to conquer it."
Watabe's focus now is on the family he has made with fellow Pyeongchang 2018 Olympian, former freestyle skier Yurie, with whom he shares a son.
"I don't know if I'll try for the Olympics after this but it will be different for sure - and I'm not talking about retirement," he said. "This will be the last time I use up 100 percent of my time to try to win a gold medal. I'm going into these Games with a sense of determination I haven't had before."
He will need all of his determination in Beijing to topple the dominance of the Germans, with two-time reigning champion Eric Frenzel leading the field once more.
The Beijing Winter Olympics are set to kick off on February 4. Global Times has picked some of the biggest names to keep an eye on.
Japan's Akito Watabe will carry the flag for the Japanese delegation at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games next month amid hopes that he can finally bring a gold medal back home.
The 33-year-old has two silver medals to his name at the Olympics, finishing second in the individual Nordic combined at both of the last two Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 and then again at Pyeongchang four years ago on the normal hill and 10-kilometer cross-country race.
His medal at Sochi was the first Japanese medal in 20 years in a Nordic skiing event and he is hoping to finally go one better and to the top of the podium at his fifth - and perhaps final - Olympic Games.
"Technically, I'm the best I've ever been," the Nordic skier told domestic media in November ahead of the World Cup season.
"All that's on my mind right now is wanting to produce the best jump and run of my entire career so I can win a gold medal.
"No matter how many times I go to the Games, it's never comfortable. It always feels like the first time.
"Without question, I want to win a gold medal this time more than ever."
Akito Watabe of Japan Photo: IC
His biggest challenge will come from Germany, which is where Watabe trained ahead of the current season.
The Winter Games are in his blood and it was in his hometown of Nagano where a 10-year-old Watabe watched the ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics and fell in love with the sport. Just eight years later the teenager was still studying in high school when he made his Olympics debut at Turin 2006.
Gold is his aim and he sees it in fitting terms. "It feels like a mountain to me. Lately, that's the way I see it. There is a mountain I haven't been able to climb and I want to conquer it."
Watabe's focus now is on the family he has made with fellow Pyeongchang 2018 Olympian, former freestyle skier Yurie, with whom he shares a son.
"I don't know if I'll try for the Olympics after this but it will be different for sure - and I'm not talking about retirement," he said. "This will be the last time I use up 100 percent of my time to try to win a gold medal. I'm going into these Games with a sense of determination I haven't had before."
He will need all of his determination in Beijing to topple the dominance of the Germans, with two-time reigning champion Eric Frenzel leading the field once more.
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