Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0986
March 4, 2010


Curtain Falls on Vancouver Winter Olympics

The 21st Winter Olympics in Vancouver ended on February 28 (March 1 Japan time). The “festival of snow and ice,” which continued for 17 days from February 12, was participated in by 82 countries and territories, the highest number ever. While the host country, Canada, performed exceedingly well, ranking first among the participating countries and territories with 14 gold medals, South Korea and China also stood out with some stunning achievements. The next Winter Olympics will be held in the Black Sea health resort of Sochi in southern Russia in 2014.

South Korea and China Make Striking Progress

At the Vancouver Olympics there were 86 events in 7 sports, the highest number ever, and Canada finished top in terms of the number of gold medals won. In terms of total number of medals won (gold, silver, and bronze), the United States came first with 37, followed by Germany in second place with 30 and Canada in third place with 26. Russia placed sixth with 15. Noticeably, South Korea ranked seventh with 14 medals and China eighth with 11 medals. Japan, with five medals, came fifteenth, but nevertheless its tally of three silver and two bronze medals exceeded its performances at both the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (one silver and one bronze) and the 2006 Turin Olympics (one gold). According to newspaper reports, when asked by the press on March 1 for his impressions of the Vancouver Olympics, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, “I think our athletes did very well to come away with five medals. The Japanese people can be proud of them. If there are areas that need to be strengthened, the government will think positively about it.”

Among the sports at the Winter Olympics, the attention of the Japanese focused most of all on women’s figure skating and the duel for gold between Japan’s Mao Asada and Kim Yu-na of South Korea. The live broadcast by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) on February 26 registered a viewing rating of over 40%. In the end, Kim won the gold medal with a record score, and Asada took the silver. Four of Japan’s major newspapers (the exception being The Nikkei) lavished praises on these two skaters in their February 27 editorials. The Yomiuri Shimbun applauded them, saying, “The dancing on ice by these two 19-year-old rivals was truly wonderful.” The Asahi Shimbun commented, “During the long history of the Olympic Games, women’s figure skating had long been dominated by Western skaters. This is the first time that two Asian skaters stood side by side upon the medal podium. The two are both 19 years old. We offer them our highest praise.” And the Mainichi Shimbun acclaimed, “The artistic skating of the two athletes, who, despite the heavy pressure of the Olympic stage, both gave supreme performances that thrilled people around the world, was really moving. We would like to give them our heartfelt applause.”

At a press conference on February 28, the head of the Japanese delegation, Seiko Hashimoto (a member of the House of Councillors, president of the Japan Skating Federation, and a former Olympian herself), gave a summing up of the Vancouver Olympics. Regarding the outstanding achievements of Japan’s fellow Asian countries, South Korea and China, she said (Mainichi, March 1, evening edition), “In some ways it was overwhelming. But when you think that until now it has been hard for Asian athletes to put up a challenge against athletes who are physically bigger than they are, it’s actually good news [for Japan].” Regarding future measures to strengthen the Japanese team, Hashimoto remarked, “It is important to raise the quality of staff responsible for medicine, information gathering, and other support.” Hitoshi Yamagishi, the chief of the Yomiuri’s sports desk, wrote (March 2), “Japan’s top athletes in Vancouver were supported by the passion of the companies to which they belong. But these are athletes who compete with Japan’s pride at stake, so they should not have to be relying only on corporate support. If we don’t get national backing on track as soon as possible, our Asian rivals are going to pull even further ahead.”

Newspaper Editorials

Regarding the dazzling performances by Kim Yu-na and other South Korean athletes, the Yomiuri editorial (February 27) noted, “One of the reasons for their strength is said to be the fact that in South Korea promising athletes are given support by the state from their junior years.” It went on, “The government has allotted a generous part of the sports budget for fiscal 2010 to promising sports with the aim of increasing Japan’s medal haul at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Such support is essential for the Winter Olympics, too. And in order to compete with the rest of the world, a long-term perspective is important as well. In the case of figure skating, the issue is how to foster the post-Asada generation.”

The Asahi editorial (February 27) said, “[South Korea and China] also rank high in the total medal count. The Winter Olympics, long dominated by Western countries, have changed drastically. The 1986 Winter Asian Games Japan hosted in Sapporo started the winter sports fever in Asia.” It went on, “Athletes and coaches have moved across borders and raised each other’s level of performance, which, coupled with the region’s economic growth, has led to the rise of Asian countries in winter sports.” The Asahi concluded, “By competing fairly with each other and learning from each other, the level of performance by athletes in the whole of Asia grows, and as a result, the presence of Asia in the world also grows. There is much to be learned from the world of sports.”

While applauding the performances of the Japanese athletes, the Mainichi editorial (March 1) commented, “As they did at the Turin Olympics, South Korea and China, Japan’s Asian rivals, did very well again. In the past Japan had the lead in winter sports, but now it is necessary for us to humbly learn what should be learned from the progress of those two countries.” The Mainichi also pointed out that a large-scale military campaign had begun in Afghanistan as if in sync with the opening of the Vancouver Olympics and that two years ago a military conflict between Russia and Georgia had flared up on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics. It observed, “The Olympic dream is not simply about winning medals. We sincerely hope that the Afghan people can thoroughly enjoy the ‘festival of peace’ that will be held in London in two years’ time.”

The Sankei Shimbun editorial (March 1) stated, “South Korea is aiming to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, and China is putting the efforts of the whole state into the nurturing of athletes. Japan slumped in events like ski jumping and Nordic combined, in which gold medals have been won in the past. Is the generation change among athletes going well? The Japanese Olympic Committee and other related parties should investigate new buildup measures from a variety of angles.”

(Copyright 2010 Foreign Press Center, Japan)

*Japan Brief is an original production of the Foreign Press Center, Japan, and does not represent the views of the Government of Japan or of any other body.



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