Jonosuke 28 Posted February 9, 2006 For a country which won exactly one silver and one bronze medals at the last Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, it's kind of strange that Japanese sports media have been bombarding the public with almost wall to wall coverage of their athletes for the last couple of weeks with the stuff like who arrived in Torino and how their practice session went and which place in Germany they have been training etc etc NHK even has their own theme song for the olympics especially made which they play it at every sports broadcast now. So I wonder if they really have a strong enough team this time around to win more than couple of medals ...not that they are going after Germany, U.S. or Norway... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Buckton 1 Posted February 9, 2006 snowboarding is one they have a chance at I'd say - half pipe. Young lad and his sister (different surnames though) figure skating is one the whole nation wants to see - but I get half a feeling that were Suguri or Arakawa to win anything above Ando then the media and public would both be half disappointed. Standard - Ando is a cutesy so deserves more. ski-jumping - did well in Nagano and hoping for a repeat but with an aging team now (everyone always says the rules were changed to stop Japan winning a few years ago but no-one can give me specifics - anyone here?) speed skating - I think one of the Japanese lads is a record holder and that is seen as a hope (but again - the handsome and more popular Shimizu is the one the media want to win) curling - everyone laughs at it. That fact notwithstanding - I am a lifelong fan! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Petr 0 Posted February 10, 2006 There seems to be a figure skating boom in Japan. There is many documents on 12 year old girls gambarizing - panchira and lolikon - two popular Japanese phenomens in one. No wonder it's booming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Buyouzan Posted February 10, 2006 There seems to be a figure skating boom in Japan. There is many documents on 12 year old girls gambarizing - panchira and lolikon - two popular Japanese phenomens in one. No wonder it's booming. i agree, although half of the boom comes from these skaters actually being medal contenders and that Japan has had a history of success in women's figure skating (Ito Midori etc) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaiomitsuki 408 Posted February 11, 2006 If you read the preview of SportsIllustrated Here Japan can win 2 medals : Shizuka Arakawa Figure Skating (Women) (Japan's Mao Asada, 15, who would be favored but is too young to compete) Joji Kato Long Track Speedskating (500 m Men) Germany will win 17 Gold Medals (Carried away on a stretcher...) Norway 15 ! and Italy only 2 !!!!! I can't imagine that the host country can only win 2 gold medals !!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asashosakari 16,987 Posted February 11, 2006 Germany will win 17 Gold Medals (Carried away on a stretcher...) Err, what? We "only" got 12 last time, and I sure haven't heard anybody say that our team is stronger this time, quite the opposite. What an odd projection... Incidentally, I just had one long-standing illusion shattered while looking up the numbers from Salt Lake City. I never realized until now that Norway passed us by in the aftermath due to M Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doitsuyama 1,156 Posted February 11, 2006 Germany will win 17 Gold Medals (Laughing...) Err, what? We "only" got 12 last time, and I sure haven't heard anybody say that our team is stronger this time, quite the opposite. What an odd projection... Why odd? If you look at this world cup season in medal heavy sports like biathlon, cross country skiing or speed skating, Germany rarely looked as good as now. Especially cross country skiing, where Germany was quite weak in the past and now even had a world cup race with first to fifth all German. That notwithstanding, I agree that 17 golds is a pretty high estimate and that Italy likely will win more than 2. Oh, and Germany vs. Norway will be decided in biathlon, all of Germany against Bj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mattjila 0 Posted February 11, 2006 That notwithstanding, I agree that 17 golds is a pretty high estimate and that Italy likely will win more than 2. Oh, and Germany vs. Norway will be decided in biathlon, all of Germany against Bj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manekineko 200 Posted February 11, 2006 Not to forget a gold in combination, very fine win, first after jumps kept his first place through the race and won against - drat, forgot the name... Gottwald! by having more strength in finish. Norway so far (that I've seen) 1 silver and 2 bronzes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zentoryu 154 Posted February 11, 2006 (edited) Germany will win 17 Gold Medals (Laughing...) Err, what? We "only" got 12 last time, and I sure haven't heard anybody say that our team is stronger this time, quite the opposite. What an odd projection... Sports Illustrated is rather infamous for making bad predictions, so I would take what they projected for Olympic medal counts with a grain of salt. Edited February 11, 2006 by Zentoryu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aderechelsea 107 Posted February 12, 2006 i only like speed skating in the winter olympics (maybe hokey a bit too). i always suport the Dutch (a habit i am stuck with from football) but i have no idea if they have a good team this time around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fukurou 534 Posted February 12, 2006 (edited) ski-jumping - did well in Nagano and hoping for a repeat but with an aging team now (everyone always says the rules were changed to stop Japan winning a few years ago but no-one can give me specifics - anyone here?) The Japanese men had some bad luck in qualifying for Normal Hill ski jumping. Masahiko HARADA, age 37 and a member of the '98 gold medal team, was DQ'd for using illegal skis. (they were too long for his weight). He said he weighed 7 ounces less than he should have. He's still eligible for the large hill and the team jumping. It could have been more embarassing - Lars Bystoel of Norway, who was leading after qualifying, was DQ'd for wearing an illegal jumping suit! (so were Nikolay Karpenko (Kazakhstan) and Sigurd Pettersen (Norway)) The remaining Japanese jumpers are ranked as follows going into Sunday' final: 4 - KASAI Noriaki 10 - OKABE Takanobu 17(tie) - ITO Daiki ETA: Now this is just plain odd. According to this news report from early Sunday morning, Norway's Lars Bystoel had been DQ'd. And then later Sunday came THIS news report, which mentions his final position in the event (indicating he DID compete), and there's no mention of the DQ at all! :-S Edited February 12, 2006 by Fukurou Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaffa 0 Posted February 13, 2006 ... coming from a country with no mountains over 1km high ... Isn't it so that the highest mountain in Ireland - Carrautoohill (Carrantoohill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaffa 0 Posted February 13, 2006 39 metres?!?you are taking me to task over 39 metres!! ok ok ireland has no mountain over 1039 metres (Neener, neener...) I come from the country where the highest mountain (ok hill) is 318 meters in height. For us, every meter counts ... http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/~hill/mountains/munamagi Seriously, I just used your minor slip to show off. So, please forgive me for my vanity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sekihiryu 51 Posted February 13, 2006 snowboarding is one they have a chance at I'd say - half pipe. Young lad and his sister (different surnames though) The snowboarders bombed out big time, spanked seriously by the Americans. Domu Narita was quite frankly embarrassing with his childish antics through the whole mens competition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mariomaru 0 Posted February 14, 2006 ETA: Now this is just plain odd. According to this news report from early Sunday morning, Norway's Lars Bystoel had been DQ'd. And then later Sunday came THIS news report, which mentions his final position in the event (indicating he DID compete), and there's no mention of the DQ at all! (Whistling...) He was DQ in qualifications, but he competed in the main event due his rank in World Cup, that is, first 15 ranked jumpers in World Cup are automatically qualified. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doitsuyama 1,156 Posted February 14, 2006 And before you ask why he must go into the qualification at all - it is also there to determine the order of starting with the best qualificant starting last. DQ means being one of the first starters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gernobono 399 Posted February 15, 2006 (edited) And before you ask why he must go into the qualification at all - it is also there to determine the order of starting with the best qualificant starting last. DQ means being one of the first starters. i guess this is not true....the best 15 in the running word cup always start at the end with the current leader being the last to jump ....the others qualified (35(?) outside the leaders in WC) start according to their placing in the worldcup overall...only jumpers with no points in the worldcup are starting in a order coming from qualification......and being dq in qualification AND not being in the first 15 of worldcup also dqs from starting in the main event.....just see what happend to masaharu (?) harada who was dqed at qualification and was not allowed to start..... the order of the jumpers coming from qualification only determines the pairings in the head-to-head jumps, if this system is used like in "vierschanzentournee" Edited February 15, 2006 by Gernobono Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonosuke 28 Posted February 18, 2006 The question is now not how many medals Japan wins but if they ever will.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hananotaka 8 Posted February 20, 2006 The question is now not how many medals Japan wins but if they ever will.... I still think they were robbed in the women's moguls. But, damn, it's like a rough start has spread to the rest of the Japanese contingent. It might be up to Arakawa, Suguri, and Ando... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asashosakari 16,987 Posted February 23, 2006 There's the medal, Arakawa just won the figure skating competition. :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fukurou 534 Posted February 23, 2006 (edited) There's the medal, Arakawa just won the figure skating competition. :-) Wasn't Ando supposed to be the hope for this Games, since Asada wasn't old enough? Did Ando try her quad? 1. Arakawa (JPN) 2. Cohen (USA) 3. Slutskaya (RUS) 4. Suguri (JPN) 5. Rochette (CAN) 6. Meissner (USA) 7. Hughes (USA) 8. Meier (SUI) 9. Kostner (ITA) 10. Gedevanishvili (GEO) . . . 15. Ando (JPN) Haven't seen it yet, I'm looking at the scoring online. I know from news reports that Arakawa skated clean and Cohen fell/touched down. Slutskaya must have too, as she also has a 1.00 deduction on her score. Even without the deductions, they still would have been the medalists in that order. Congratulations to them all! Edited February 23, 2006 by Fukurou Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asashosakari 16,987 Posted February 23, 2006 Even without the deductions, they still would have been the medalists in that order. I'm not sure if that is necessarily so. As I understand the new system (which may be quite wrong, of course), falling down doesn't just mean you get the explicit deduction, you also lose points from your technical elements score for not executing that element. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Buckton 1 Posted February 23, 2006 am I the only one seeing a similarity between Arakawa and Kotomitsuki? Facially I mean - in case the concept of skiing styles should come up. Perhaps a 'Guess the Arakawa' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaiomitsuki 408 Posted February 24, 2006 (edited) and now Japan is 17th in the standing... ... 18th Finland ! Germany is 1st with 9 gold medals Austria 2nd (8 gold) Russia 3rd (8 gold) ... Norway is just 12th (only 2 gold medals) Edited February 24, 2006 by Kaiomitsuki Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
