Collaborate with Olympians to promote winter competitions PR activities and other initiatives JOC

While attention is focused on the activities of Japanese athletes in winter sports, such as winning the highest number of medals at the Beijing Olympics, the JOC = Japanese Olympic Committee will newly Olympia from next year to stop the decline in the competitive population. We have decided to work on PR activities that will lead to the promotion of winter competitions in collaboration with Beijing.

JOC's new efforts to promote winter competition from next year include Kentaro Minagawa, who participated in four Olympic games in the ski alpine skiing, and Uemura, who participated in ski freestyle with his wife and five consecutive women's moguls. Aiko and others will participate.

On the 9th, the first meeting was held in Tokyo where the JOC and Mr. Minagawa discussed.

Regarding winter sports, Japan has been attracting attention such as winning a record 18 medals including 3 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics held last month, while the competition population is smaller than summer sports and new competitions are being held. The number of people working on the game continues to decrease.

For this reason, JOC intends to collaborate with Olympians such as Mr. Minagawa and former athletes to come up with ideas that will lead to the promotion of competition, and will disseminate information on ski resorts with good snow quality in Japan, which is said to be one of the best in the world. It also promotes the appeal of winter sports by teaching children the importance of the natural environment, which is indispensable for continuing winter sports.

Through these efforts, the JOC hopes to revitalize winter sports, improve competitiveness, and foster momentum for the bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics promoted by the city of Sapporo.

Mr. Minagawa, who attended the meeting, said, "The skiing population, including enthusiasts, has fallen to about one-third of the peak in the 1980s. Japan has a very rich and blessed nature, and I too. I was able to grow into competitions and the Olympics. I would like to work with JOC to preserve nature and reach out to as many people as possible in order to popularize the competition. "

JOC Chairman Yamashita said, "We have to work hard not only for competitions but also for more people to become familiar with winter sports. That will lead to activities such as the bid for the Sapporo Olympics. I want to think about a specific direction. "