People's Daily Tokyo, January 29 (Sun Lu, Ye Ximin, Wu Ying) "China's hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics can drive more people to participate in ice and snow sports, which is a great contribution to the development of the Olympic movement." Japan's former Olympic alpine skier, former member and technical representative of the International Ski Federation, Maruyama Hitoshiya recently said in an interview with People's Daily in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, where the ski venue of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics is located, that he believes that China has made every preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and wishes China to host an exciting Beijing Winter Olympics.
Former Japanese Olympic alpine skier, former member and technical representative of the International Ski Federation, Maruyama Hitoshi was also interviewed by People's Daily. People's Daily Wu Ying
The Beijing Winter Olympics will become a stage for athletes to show their highest technical strength
Born in hakuba village in Nagano Prefecture, Maruyama, now nearly 80 years old, competed in the 10th Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, as a Japanese national team athlete. After retiring from the army, Maruyama became one of the leaders of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and participated in the construction of the Winter Olympic Ski Stadium in Hakuba Village. Not only that, as a technical representative of the International Ski Federation, he has also traveled to Yabuli, Beidahu, Wanlong and other ski resorts in China for many times to participate in the design guidance and certification of the track. During this period, he also inspected the Secret Garden Genting Park Ski Resort, which has become one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. As a well-known alpine skier and ski sports technology expert, Maruyama highly praised the preparations for the construction of the track for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and he believes that the use of artificial snow on the Track of the Beijing Winter Olympics is very suitable for athletes.
Former Japanese Olympic alpine skier, former member and technical representative of the International Ski Federation, Maruyama Hitoshi also briefed the People's Daily on the construction of the ski field at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. People's Daily Wu Ying
Maruyama said the IOC and the International Ski Federation hope that the track will allow athletes to perform at the highest level, and the athletes themselves are looking forward to seizing the opportunity once every four years to realize their dreams. Maruyama said that combined with the experience of previous field visits, he believes that the track setting of the Beijing Winter Olympics, whether it is climatic conditions or track construction, is very good. He pointed out that most of Japan's tracks are natural snow, soft and easy to clump, and need to be pressed tightly with snow presses, while the artificial snowmaking measures of China's ski resorts make the snow more compact, and artificial snow is widely used around the world, which is very suitable for use as a track for Olympic competitions.
Maruyama said that the Olympic Games is a huge project for the host countries, especially in the current severe situation where the new crown pneumonia epidemic is still raging around the world, China has made arduous efforts to ensure that the Winter Olympics can be held as scheduled and safely. He said that athletes are full of expectations for the opportunity once every four years, and the Beijing Winter Olympics have made the best preparations in all aspects, believing that athletes can play at the highest level in the best competition environment and realize their dreams while enjoying a safe and high-quality Winter Olympics.
It is expected that the Beijing Winter Olympics will ignite the public's enthusiasm for ice and snow and continue to promote the development of ice and snow sports
"Driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" is one of the goals proposed by the Beijing Winter Olympics, and Maruyama also said that he looks forward to attracting more people to participate in ice and snow sports and promoting the development of ice and snow sports through the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Souvenirs of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, displayed in the Hakuba Village Museum in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. People's Daily Wu Ying
According to the data, in 1998, when the Nagano Winter Olympics were held, Japan's ski population once peaked at 18 million, but then declined all the way down, and by 2020 it had plummeted to 4.3 million. Maruyama said with emotion that today's Young Japanese people are keen to play with mobile phones, and their interest in skiing, a winter sport, is no longer high. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, more and more overseas ski enthusiasts began to come to Japan to ski, bringing ski resorts back to life. Maruyama is looking forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics. "China is using the Beijing Winter Olympics to arouse interest in skiing, which is a very beneficial thing," he said. Skiing can stimulate a variety of skills in the human body, and the popularity of this sport also helps to improve people's health, and we should fully share the opportunities of the Winter Olympics."
Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, was the site of the snow sports at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Hakuba Village Ski Jumping Resort is the only competition and training venue in Japan that has both K120 and K90 standard jumping platforms, and is the main training base of the Japanese ski jumping national team. People's Daily Wu Ying
Maruyama said that although the history of winter sports in China is relatively short, the Winter Olympics will greatly promote China's professional intensive training. At the same time, he looked forward to the successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will promote cooperation between China, Japan and south Korea in winter sports training. "China, Japan and South Korea all have venues to host the Winter Olympics, and if they can make good use of the fields of the three countries according to the snowfall, they will be able to extend the winter training time." On the other hand, the mutual exchange and exchange of athletes from the three countries in the training process is also conducive to the overall improvement of the technical level of athletes in East Asia," said Maruyama. He stressed that China's national strength is strong, and he believes that the newly built venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be well maintained in the future, and looks forward to its continued to become an important venue for athlete training and other international competitions.
"Beijing, come on!" Come on, contestant!" Towards the end of the interview, Maruyama wishes the athletes the best possible performances in the Beijing Winter Olympics and the best results in the best mood and state.