Harada Hopes To Get A Jump On Redemption Japanese Ski Jumper Wants To Atone For Costly Mistake
In a country of temples and tradition, no Olympic event carries more importance for the host Japanese than ski jumping.
At Sapporo in 1972, Japanese jumpers swept all three places in the normal hill, which was then a 70-meter leap, for their country’s only medals of the Games.
The normal hill is now 90 meters, and the event will be held on Wednesday, a national holiday - meaning much of the nation will be watching Masahiko Harada’s bid for redemption.
For four years, Harada has carried the burden of failure after an incredible collapse on the final jump at the Lillehammer Olympics cost his country the gold medal in the 120-meter team competition. Now, at last, comes his chance to get even.
The ski jump is one of the most graceful events of the Olympics with competitors sailing into the sky, sometimes seeming to soar like birds high over the horizon.
Japan was in position to claim the team gold at Lillehammer, needing only one final routine jump from Harada, the world champion. His first jump had been 122 meters, well beyond the 105 he needed to clinch the gold.
As Harada prepared for the final jump, Jens Weissflog of Germany, the 120-meter gold medalist, congratulated him on the obvious Japanese victory. In an instant, however, that gold turned to silver when Harada took off too early and produced the shortest jump in the competition, a mere 97.5 meters.
That left the Germans celebrating an unexpected gold and Harada in tears over his failure. Had he been a victim of some last-second gamesmanship? Perhaps. However, he blamed only himself, saying simply, “I felt the pressure.”
The episode affected Harada for two years. He did not begin to regain his form until 1996, but by last year he was the world champion at 120 meters and second at 90 meters.
For the Olympics, he is part of a powerful Japanese team that includes Kazuyoshi Funaki, winner of the prestigious Four Hills title, and Hiroya Saitoh. Harada leads the World Cup standings by a large margin with Germany’s Dieter Thoma second and Funaki third.
“The Japanese are in an extra class right now,” Thoma said.
Their success has led to talk of a 1-2-3 Japanese finish in one of the individual ski jumps. That would mirror the country’s success at Sapporo, where Yukio Kasaya, Akitsugu Konno and Seiji Aochi accounted for a gold-silver-bronze sweep on the normal hill.
If Harada is driven by redemption, so is Funaki after missing a sweep of the Four Hills series by finishing eighth in the final event won by Sven Hannawald of Germany.
“I am very angry at not winning all four events. It was very important to me,” Funaki said. “I will strike back with two victories in Nagano.”
Thoma, a double medalist at Lillehammer; Hannawald; Finland’s Jani Soinenen; defending World Cup champion Primoz Peterka of Slovenia; and Andreas Widhoelzl of Austria are the top challengers to the Japanese.
America’s best Olympic finish came in 1924 when Anders Haugen took a bronze on the large hill.
xxxx WHAT’S AHEAD Medals at stake: Men’s 20K biathlon, women’s Super G, men’s free style skiing moguls, women’s luge singles, men’s 90K ski jumping.