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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow

Shinano Mainichi

Ski jumpers give Japan 100th Olympic gold medal

Japan's celebrated team of ski jumpers finally won the Olympic gold medal that they had been seeking for the last half-decade and with it secured the 100th gold medal in Japanese Olympic history.

Masahiko Harada, haunted by his belly-flop four years ago that cost Japan a gold medal in Lillehammer, soared 137 meters on his second jump to put Japan on top of the team event in Hakuba.

Four Hills champion Kazuyoshi Funaki, the last jumper to stand at the top of the inrun, nailed a jump of 125 meters to secure the long-awaited team jumping gold medal for Japan.

''It is significant that Japan's 100th gold medal comes in a team event,'' said Mikio Oda, who won Japan's first gold medal in the triple jump 70 years ago at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

''The key to success in competition depends, of course, upon the vitality of the athletes, but it is also important to have the harmony and teamwork of the coaches, fans with their support, reporters and supporters,'' the 92-year-old Oda said.

The gold medal was also a fitting conclusion to the ski jumping competition in which Japanese jumpers delighted the nation by bagging four medals -- two gold, a silver and a bronze -- ensuring that the Nagano Olympics would be Japan's most successful winter games ever.

''It was great to enjoy the thrill together. Let's figure out a way to maintain these winning ways,'' said Yukio Kasaya, who won Japan's first-ever medal in the winter Olympics leading a sweep of the 70-meter hill ski jumping event in the 1972 Sapporo Games.

Meanwhile, in short track speed skating where Japan is also expected to mine some medals, Satoru Terao set an Olympic record of 1:29.398 in the men's 1,000 meters race but failed to advance to the gold medal final.

In the women's 3,000-meter relay, Japan made it to the four-team final but finished out of the medals after one Japanese racer fell down and ruined what might have been a run for a medal.

On the long track, Gianni Romme set another world record in the men's 10,000 meters, but Japan's lone entry Keiji Shirahata, unsuccessful in his attempt to learn to use the revolutionary slap skates, finished 14th with a time of 13:57.45. (Kyodo News)

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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun