One week before the opening of the Beijing Paralympics, the main team of the Japanese athletes who will participate in the tournament departed for China on the morning of the 25th.
On the 25th, 18 athletes, including Momoka Muraoka of alpine skiing who is the captain of the Japanese team and aims to win the gold medal for the second consecutive tournament, and Taiki Morii, who is also the silver medal for the fourth consecutive tournament in alpine skiing, departed from Narita Airport. There are 43 people in total.
After completing the boarding procedure in a relaxed manner, the players smiled and waved to the press and headed for the plane.
The Beijing Games will be held in the corona virus following the Tokyo Games last summer, and one Japanese player who was scheduled to depart on the 25th was found to be infected with the new coronavirus by a PCR test on the 24th. 25 I canceled the departure from sunrise.
The JPC = Japan Paralympic Committee says that whether or not this athlete can participate will be dealt with in consultation with the Games Organizing Committee.
In the previous Pyeongchang tournament with 38 players, Japan won a total of 10 medals, which is the third highest in the winter tournament, including 3 gold medals, and this tournament will be played by 29 representative players.
The Beijing Paralympics will start on the 4th of next month, and 78 events of 6 competitions will be held in a 10-day schedule until the 13th.