Olympics & Paralympics

Horishima wins Japan’s first medal at Beijing Games

The Associated Press
Ikuma Horishima competes in the men’s moguls qualifying at Genting Snow Park at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Saturday in Zhangjiakou, China.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

22:30 JST, February 5, 2022

Ikuma Horishima won Japan’s first medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday, grabbing the bronze in the men’s moguls event.

This is the second consecutive medal for Japan in this event.

The 24-year-old athlete finished third with with 81.48 points, 1.75 points behind gold medalist Walter Wallberg of Sweden. The silver medal went to Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury.

Born in Gifu Prefecture, Horishima began skiing at the age of 1 and started moguls in earnest when he was a fourth-grade elementary school student. He has been competing in the World Cup since 2013, winning Japan’s first gold medals in both men’s moguls and dual moguls at the 2017 World Ski Championships. He finished 11th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

He has won three World Cups this season, and has been on the podium in nine consecutive races. He holds Japan’s World Cup record with 11 wins.