JAPAN has announced its largest overseas Winter Olympic team and also expects to win a record medal tally at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, which will be held from Feb. 4 to 20. A total of 124 athletes, including 49 men and 75 women, are among the 262-member delegation, exceeding the 123 sent to Pyeongchang four years ago. Only the 1998 Nagao Winter Olympics, in which Japan sent 156 athletes, had a bigger team thanks to their home advantage. The Japanese athletes will enter 109 disciplines, seven more than the Pyeongchang Games when they made history by winning four gold, five silver and four bronze medals. Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC), told Xinhua in an earlier interview that Japanese athletes will put up great performances. “Our athletes are very strong in both summer and winter events. I attended the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and look forward to visiting Beijing again February. I think our athletes will achieve very good results in Beijing,” he told Xinhua. Men’s figure skating superstar Yuzuru Hanyu, who has millions of Chinese fans, will be one of the most anticipated faces coming into this Olympics. The 27-year-old will become the first man to win three consecutive Olympic figure skating gold in 94 years if he retains the title. He gave the world a glimpse of hope at the Japanese national championship last December by landing a quadruple axel with two feet while easily outpacing Shoma Uno and Yumi Kagayami to win the title for the seventh time. Hanyu said he is ready to take the challenge in Beijing. “The Olympics is a place you must win,” he said. “For that reason, I’ll be strongly determined.” America’s three-time world champion Nathan Chen will pose the biggest threat to Hanyu and the other Japanese skater Uno, who earned silver in men’s singles in Pyeongchang, is also looking to earn a medal. Ayumu Hirano, the 2014 and 2018 silver medalist in the men’s snowboard halfpipe, has maintained great form this season, winning this season’s World Cup series and finishing second at X Games last weekend. Ayumu, his younger brother Kaishu Hirano and world champion Yuto Totsuka will join hands in Beijing trying to seal the gold medal for Japan in front of three-time Olympic champion Shaun White of the United States. (Xinhua) | 