Olympics: Unheralded Athletes Test Their Skills Against Established Stars

Some of Japan's lesser-known Olympians are competing, or have participated, in events during the final few days of the Milan Cortina Olympics.

For instance, freestyle skier Satoshi Furuno was in action in Livigno, Italy, in the men's ski cross competition on Saturday, February 21.

An explanation of his specialized event isn't common knowledge, nor does it roll off the tongue of nearly everybody I've ever met. Olympics.com offers a quick primer on the event.

"Ski cross involves a qualifying phase, where athletes must navigate a slope with artificial elements like jumps, bumps, and parabolic curves as quickly as possible, and an elimination phase where four athletes compete at the same time," read the sport's overview on the website.

In the ski cross seeding round, Furuno, 26, had the second-best time (1 minute, 7.12 seconds) among 31 competitors. The later rounds were held on Saturday night, and Furuno was fourth in the four-man final.

Furuno had his top ski cross result at the world championships in 2023, placing ninth overall in Bakuriani, Georgia. He was 26th in his Olympic debut in ski cross at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Furuno is a graduate of Keio University's Faculty of Law.

Learning at the Olympics: Valuable Experience on the Short Track

Elsewhere, in the "B" final in the women's short track speed skating 1,500 meters on Friday night, Japan's Haruna Nagamori finished sixth, clocking 2:37.450. There were seven entrants, with Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands winning in 2:35.554.

Earlier Friday, Nagamori finished in fifth place in her semifinal heat in 2:21.390, fast enough to reach the "B" final. She gave her performance a positive assessment: "I skated the best race of my life," she said, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Nagamori completed the Olympics with a 13th-place overall finish.

After the consolation final, Nagamori said her experience in Milan will be an important motivational factor for her.

"I want to build up my power over the next four years and win a medal," the 23-year-old was quoted as saying by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

In the Olympics, Japan has achieved many feats in speed skating on the 400-meter track, including Miho Takagi's 10 medals to date.

On the other hand, in short track speed skating, contested on a 111.12-meter track, Japan has not been a quadrennial medal winner. Takafumi Nishitani won gold in the men's short track 500 meters at the 1998 Nagano Games, and teammate Hitoshi Uematsu was the bronze medalist.

At the 1992 Albertville Olympics, Japan claimed the bronze in the men's 5,000-meter relay.

A Milestone to Remember

After the completion of the women's figure skating singles event on Thursday evening, Japan had pushed its all-time Winter Olympic medal total to 100. Kaori Sakamoto was the silver medalist and Ami Nakai followed with a third-place finish.