The Japan Mogul Team, said to be "undoubtedly the strongest in history," is taking on the Beijing Olympics. What kind of skiing will they show on the Olympic stage? Let's introduce the Japanese men's and women's mogul skiers, who are considered very likely to win gold medals. Also, check out the 2021-2022 World Cup competition footage, which will give us a glimpse into the Olympic battle!
Horishima
Ikuma
Although he was highly expected to win a medal at the PyeongChang Olympics, he ended up in disappointing 11th place after an unexpected fall. He is eager to get revenge and is currently performing well in the 2021-22 Olympic year. He has won three of the seven World Cup races. He has consistently shown consistent skating, always standing on the podium, and even won the World Cup just before the Olympics. With his outstanding presence, he leads the Japan Mogul Team as the ace, and is considered a strong contender for a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics
☟By the way, this is Ikuma Horishima's Instagram account. He's smiling with a victory even in a tournament held just before the Beijing Olympics. He's heading into the Olympics in top form.
@ikuma1211
■ Profile
| date of birth | Born December 11, 1997 |
| Birthplace | Ikeda Town, Gifu Prefecture |
| Affiliation | Toyota Motor Corporation Ski Club |
| Major battles in recent years | '21-22 World Cup Tremblant Moguls 3rd place / Alpe d'Huez Moguls 1st place / Idre Dual Moguls 2nd place and Moguls 1st place / Luca Moguls 1st place '21 World Championships Dual Moguls 3rd place '20 World Cup Luca Moguls 1st place '18 Pyeongchang Olympics participant |
| Gear used | Skis: ID one |
| @ikuma1211 |
■ Horishima Yukimasa - Skating video
Yukimasa Horishima, who never stepped down from the podium from the first World Cup race of the season to the tournament before the Olympics, won the moguls at the Deer Valley Championships just before the Beijing Olympics
This season, Horishima Yukimasa is in a fierce battle with M. Kingsbury, the gold medalist at the Pyeongchang Olympics and known as the absolute champion, without giving an inch. It is almost certain that the gold medal battle at the Beijing Olympics will be between these two. Let's take a look at the skating of these two world-class skiers in this season's dual moguls competition!
■ Comments from the "Online Press Conference to Determine Representatives" just before the Beijing Olympics
With the Beijing Olympics just around the corner, the All Japan Ski Association held an online press conference to determine the Japanese representatives. We present an excerpt from the video of athlete Yukimasa Horishima's comments. "Q" is a question from a journalist
January 23rd (Sun) 19:00-19:30 From the online press conference to decide the representatives
Q. This is your second Olympics, and you've achieved your best results in the World Cup. How do you feel right now?
— In the World Cup before the Olympics, there were seven moguls competitions, and I was able to stand on the podium in all of them. My minimum goal for these Olympics was to win a medal, so I feel like I've been able to prepare properly for that.
Q. I think there are many reasons why you've achieved such great results this time, but I have the impression that the stability of your turns has improved considerably compared to four years ago. Is there anything you focus on when it comes to your turns?
— My focus is on carving turns, and it's only in the last two or three years that this technique has been recognized by the world and by the judges. I've gotten much stronger, so I want to confidently showcase what has been recognized.
Q. I imagine your family from Japan won't be able to come and support you this time. How do you feel about that?
— Looking back, there were 20 or 30 people who came to support me in Pyeongchang, so now that I think about it, it's lonely not having that. But even though they won't be there to support me in person, the messages they send me, saying they'll be cheering me on through the TV screen, are really encouraging.
Q. What are your goals for the Beijing Olympics?
— It's not about the results, but at the Pyeongchang Olympics we weren't able to take a group photo together, so I hope we can take a photo together in front of the emblem in Beijing.
Q. I imagine your biggest rival in the competition is Kingsbury. What kind of presence is Kingsbury to you?
— Kingsbury was already the world champion when I started competing in the World Cup, and we started competing together from there. He became a gold medalist in Pyeongchang. He's from a slightly older generation, but now we're competing on the same stage, and he's a great source of inspiration for me. He's a player who has been winning consistently, so just being able to beat him is valuable. He's a player who has achieved things that no one has ever achieved before, so he makes me feel like "there's still someone better," and I think he feels the same way, so I think we're people who inspire and push each other to improve.
Q. What do you think will be the deciding factors at the Beijing Olympics?
— On the Olympic stage, everyone is looking for the world's best skating, the world's best technique, the world's best beauty, and so on. When comparing the two of us, I think it comes down to who is more deserving of being the world's best, the difference in the beauty and power of the performance, so it's about how well we can showcase the world's best skating, including the venue, the atmosphere, and the judges. I think what I lack is beauty, so if I can express that, I think I can win.
Q. What does "good skating" mean to you? If you had to give it a name, what would it be?
-- That's quite difficult to answer (laughs). For example, I think that perfect performance, like gymnast Uchimura's perfect landing, or the Kobachi trick on the high horizontal bar, where the feet are perfectly stretched out, is what we performers need, so I think that kind of perfect skating is what I consider to be "good skating."
Q. Uchimura, your skating is often described as "the skating of a champion" or "the skating of a king." Is that what you envision?
— It's a result, and the moment I have a perfect skating performance, if I win, I think that will be the skating of a champion. If I have a perfect skating performance, I think I'll be able to see myself as a king, and that's how I'll be given that title.
Q. I believe you used a double full in your first air at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and I think you still have the ability to attempt a double full and a cork 1080, but this season you're going for a full twist in your first air. Could you tell us why you're prioritizing perfection over the difficulty of the tricks, and how you've grown since Pyeongchang?
-- Due to the nature of our sport, if you finish one run in the qualifiers and are in the top 10, you'll have three more runs in the finals. In the finals, we do official training, which narrows the field from 20 people to 10, then you do one more run to narrow it down to 6, and then you do one last run to determine the final result. It's like a deathmatch as the field gets narrowed down, so you can't afford to make a single mistake, which is a characteristic of our sport.
In this situation, the chances of successfully completing three jumps in a row become lower, so I feel frustrated that I can't attempt any big tricks under these rules. However, I think that the athletes who win in mogul skiing do so consistently without taking too many risks, so if I can improve my level of consistency, that will lead to winning, so I'm practicing that
Q. At the Pyeongchang Olympics, you said you pushed yourself to the limit, both mentally and physically, even sacrificing your days off, in pursuit of a gold medal. However, this time you also said you wouldn't give it your all until the Olympics. Could you tell us how your current training volume compares to four years ago, and how you plan to ramp up your training after the World Cup?
— From before this season started, my concept was to have a body that doesn't get tired, or rather, to reduce the amount of training in the first place, with the goal of not getting tired. There were days during official training when I didn't skate at all, and even during competitions, I would limit myself to one run instead of the usual two. I've been able to get this far by making the minimum adjustments I could manage, so when I think back to the Pyeongchang Olympics, I think my body is in a very recovered state going into Beijing. I won't be competing while fatigued, so I think I'll be able to give 100% of my ability in all four or five runs in the competition in Beijing.
Q. What are your final adjustments to become an Olympic champion?
— I've won 3 out of 7 competitions this season, so even if the Olympics are held, I can see myself winning a gold medal, and I'm very satisfied with myself at this point. So, in the remaining time, I'll be working on improving the perfection of my full twist, improving the perfection of my second air trick, the cork 720, which I'll use in the qualifiers, and improving my ranking in the qualifiers so that I can run the competition better. If I can become even a little bit more conscious of the very small details, I think I can challenge myself in the Olympics with a new mindset, and I think my winning percentage will increase again.