Stress forges gold for Japan jumpers By Hiroshi Ikezawa

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The Japan Times, Feb. 18, 1998

HAKUBA, Nagano Pref. - With 33,200 spectators cheering it on with "banzai" calls, Japan's ski jumping team finally grabbed what it left behind in Lillehammer four years ago - the Olympic gold.

Final jumper Kazuyoshi Funaki leaped 125 meters for 126 points, giving the "Rising Sun" squad a victory-clinching 993 points in the 120-meter team event Tuesday at Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium.

It was Japan's first title in this event and 100th Olympic gold medal.

Germany took the silver with 897.4 points and Austria clinched the bronze with 881.5 points.

The stadium erupted with joy and excitement the moment Funaki's last leap surpassed the K-point and secured Japan's victory. The members of the Japanese squad rushed toward Funaki and everyone then hugged.

"We did it, we did it!!" said Masahiko Harada, who equaled the day's best jump of 137 meters in his second attempt but also had the day's worst jump in the first round. He was too excited to answer reporters' questionsright after the event.

It was a dramatic event-ending comeback. Japan was 90.4 points behind Germany when Funaki was waiting for his final jump of the day. With the wind against him, Funaki soared high and far.

"I felt a lot of pressure on me, and I understand how Harada was feeling as the anchor at Lillehammer," said Funaki, the first Japanese to win three medals in a single Winter Games. "I knew we had some points to overcome. All I had to do was jump without being afraid of failure."

Despite little attention before the competition, Japan's leadoff jumper, Takanobu Okabe, was the scorer of the day. Okabe, a member of the silver-medal team at the Lillehammer Games, had successful jumps of 121.5 and Olympic record 137 meters for a team-best 259.3 points

"I can't forget my regrettable performance in the individual event, but my jumps were great today," said Hiroya Saito, who failed to advance to the second round in Sunday's competitions. Saito jumped 130 and 124 meters, notching 256.2 points.

Japan was a strong favorite Tuesday as it featured two large-hill medalists. Finland had Jani Soininen, who captured the normal hill gold and the large hill silver. But he can't jump four times by himself in the four-man team event, in which each athlete makes two jumps.

Japanese fans may have been optimistic, but they knew better than to feel confident. Even with Funaki, the 120-meter gold medalist and normal-hill runnerup, and Harada, who took the 120-meter bronze, there was ample precedent for Japan to worry.

In the Lillehammer Games, the gold medal slipped away from Japan as anchor Harada, who only needed a modest 105 meters to wrap up the gold, committed a crucial mistake in his second leap. Harada had jumped 122 meters in the first leg in '94 but finished with only 97.5 meters in the second, a distance which he often surpasses even on the normal hill.

Since the Lillehammer nightmare, the second jump has repeatedly tripped Harada in the Olympics. In his three Games, Harada made four second-leap failures before he at last took his first individual medal in the 120 meters Sunday.

Bad weather made it that much harder for Harada on Tuesday. Heavy snowfall delayed the start of the first round for 30 minutes and the second heat for 20 minutes.

When Harada got ready at the starting point, the fog became too thick to see the landing area. Harada fell to a poor 79.5 meter jump, gaining only 35.6 points.

"It was really tough. The failure at Lillehammer was in the back of my mind all over again," Harada said.

Harada's jump pulled Japan down to fourth place, 13.6 points behind then-leading Germany, at the conclusion of the first round.

In the second jump, Harada took advantage of the wind and equaled Okabe's mark of 137 meters for 141.6 points, lifting Japan back to the top position.

Japan's title hopes, however, were at stake when Austria's Andreas Widhoelzl, the normal-hill bronze medalist, scored 142.7 on a 136.5 meter jump, followed by German Dieter Thoma's 114.9-point performance.

But Funaki, 22, managed to overcome the deficit to wrap up the victory.

Shukan ST: May 11, 2004

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