CHANGCHUN, Northeast China, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese delegation put
its gold medal hope mainly in skating events at the6th Asian Winter Games, said
Toshiaki Murasato, Chef-de-Mission ofthe Japanese delegation which arrived here
on Thursday.
"We aim at 10 to 15 gold medals, and due to the cancel of some snow events,
I believe most of the golds will come from speed skating and figure skating, as
we have fielded the best skating team here."
The first batch of the Japanese delegation, which has 126 members with
athletes from speed skating, short track speed skating, ice hockey, biathlon,
curling and snowboard, arrived at Changchun at 18:30.
There are three world class skaters in men's 500m speed skatingin the team,
including Yuya Oikawa, who finished fourth in men's 500m speed skating in Turin
Olympic Games, Hiroyasu Shimizu, champion of the Nagano Olypmics in 1998 and
Joji Kato, the world record holder.
Oikawa said he had won twice in the 100m events in his two attempts in
World Cup events held in China and hoped to continue his good luck at the 6th
Asian Winter Games.
The figure skating team, which will arrive at Changchun on January 30, also
bears the hope of gold medals, especially the women's singles skaters, despite
of the absence of the talented teenager Maomai Asada. Fumie Suguri, fourth of
the Turin Olympics is already too much for the other Asian competitors.
In contrast, Murasato did not put much hope in the short track events.
"China, South Korea and Japan were almost shoulder by shoulder in the short track
speed skating four years ago, but now we have been left behind," said Murasato.
"This is a good chance for us to know how large the gap is now."
The Japanese team suffered a bitter failure at the Turin Olympics as they won
just one gold from the women's singles figure skating.
"This is a good chance for us to turn the direction of the winter sports,"
said Murasato. "The level of the competitions means more than the medals for
us."
The 6th Asian Winter Games opens here on January 28.
