At the Winter Youth Olympic Games being held in South Korea, 17-year-old Ayao Shinohara, who competes in the women's skeleton race in a "dual style" of track and field, came in 13th place, but she was able to shorten her time from official practice and compete on her first big stage. I felt a response.

Skeletons are a sport in which skaters lie face down on a sled and slide down an ice course, and at this year's Youth Olympic Games, they will skate twice and compete for the best total time.



On the women's side, only one Japanese high school student, Shinohara, participated.



Shinohara continues to compete in track and field, which he started doing when he was in elementary school, and has also been working on the skeleton race for about three years.



In the first round, he got up to speed right after the start, but made a mistake on the second curve and slowed down, so he finished with a time of 57.36 seconds, more than 2 seconds behind the leader, and was the fastest of the 18 competitors. I placed 13th.



In the second time, she ran a time of 57.67 seconds, lower than the first time and placed 13th, but her total time was 1 minute 55.03 seconds, which was faster than the four official practices held until the 21st. I marked the time.



Shinohara said, ``I made some mistakes, but my time was OK, so it was a good way to end the race.The environment was different and there were a lot of tough times, but there were athletes from various countries, so I had a lot of fun and had new experiences.'' '', he said, looking back at the challenge.



She then said, ``Seeing the opening ceremony and the support from those around me made me realize once again the scale of the Games.I want to do my best to aim for the Olympics so I can meet other athletes again.''



The gold medal went to a German athlete whose total time was 1 minute 49.45 seconds.

Possibility of new “dual wielding”

As the movement to engage in different sports in winter and summer is spreading, such as snowboarding and skateboarding athlete Ayumu Hirano and para-alpine skiing and para-track and field athlete Momoka Muraoka, the youth generation is also discovering the possibility of a new ``dual-wielding''. Ayao Shinohara makes you feel.



Shinohara, 17 years old, is a second year student at Prefectural Matsuyama Kita High School in Ehime Prefecture, where she belongs to the track and field club.



She started doing track and field in fourth grade, and now she specializes in long jump and triple jump.



The reason Shinohara started skeleton training was a project run by the Japan Sports Promotion Center and each prefecture to find the appropriateness for various sports.



When she was in the third year of junior high school, she participated in a measurement event in her hometown of Ehime Prefecture, and her talent was discovered as her sprinting and jumping skills, which she had developed through track and field, were suitable for skeleton racing.



Until then, he had never heard of a sport called skeleton, but when he was told, ``If you like roller coasters, you could do it,'' he decided to take up the sport, and from there, while practicing track and field as part of his club activities, he regularly participated in skeleton competitions. At the training camp, he began his competitive life as a ``dual wielder'' who skated on the ice with a ``sled''.



She felt that the dash she had trained in the long jump was effective in her first run-up in the skeleton race, and she began participating in international youth competitions the year after she started competing in the skeleton race.



Although her actual experience was only about 10 games, she participated in the big stage of the Youth Olympics.



Ryosuke Shindo, the coach of the Japanese national team, said, ``Rather than focusing on one sport or another, I hope to develop them through the synergy between skeleton and track and field.Using this Youth Olympics as an opportunity, I hope to participate in future Olympics. I want this to be a turning point in my future endeavors," he says, expressing his hopes for further growth.



Shinohara, who will be a third year high school student this April, has a goal of participating in the national high school competition in track and field.



In the skeleton race, she said, ``I don't have any skating skills at all and I'm weak physically, so I'm going to train harder and break into the top ranks.''



Finally, regarding the "dual-wielding" competition, he said with a smile, "It's fun, but it's also difficult. But I guess I'll keep trying."



Although he is still trying to figure out how to handle two things, this challenge is opening up new possibilities for young athletes.