Youth Olympics Ice Hockey Women's First Gold Medal January 22 6:38
Japan won the gold medal in the Lausanne Youth Olympics in the Ice Hockey Women's Final, 4-1 over Sweden. This is the first time Japan has won a medal in this event of the Youth Olympics.
The Lausanne Youth Olympics ice hockey girl won the final at the Vaudise Arena in Lausanne on the 21st, and Japan, aiming for the first medal, played against the gold medal giant Sweden for two consecutive games.
In the first period, Japan allowed a defensive goal just before the end, but in the second period, Japan gradually gained pace and Makoto Ito, who is doing well in this tournament, actively scored a goal. When aiming and hitting a shot, Hikaru Hinata pushed the spilled pack and caught up with the tie.
In the early stage of the third period, Japan succeeded in winning with the goal of Sakura Noro, and Ito and Shimomu subsequently scored points in a row, defeating Sweden 4-1 to win a gold medal.
This is the first time Japan has won a medal in this event of the Youth Olympics.
In the background of the breakthrough
The rise of Japanese ice hockey girls at the Lausanne Youth Olympic Games was the result of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation's efforts to win medals at the Olympic Games.
About 10 years ago, the Japan Ice Hockey Federation has been focusing on strengthening junior generations, especially girls, under the age of 18.
Girls who practice in club teams rather than club activities spend more time on the activities of the Japanese national team than boys, where many junior players belong to school club activities and practice or play games One of the reasons is that it is easy to call on the national team for consistent reinforcement.
The national team emphasizes two themes.
“Thorough basics” and “Experiencing the world level”.
At the training camp, which is held almost every month, the coaches invited from Finland are positive about the lack of Japanese players in addition to the offensive and defensive skills that the junior generation should definitely acquire. I struck the attitude to aim for the goal.
In addition, he has been competing with top-level players of the same generation in serious competition by sending players to tournaments under the age of 14 held in Europe.
The core players of the team participating in the tournament, Makoto Ito and Hina Shimomu, are players who have gained strength through these reinforcement measures.
In the future, when the Japanese national ice hockey girl gets a medal for the first time on the Olympic stage, they may be on the podium by the women who played in the Youth Olympics.