Japanese Skiing gets a Podium

Japanese skiing wins a worldcup skiing podium in the men’s slalom event at Madonna di Campiglio, with a third place finish by Naoki Yuasa. You know what, that is rare and I am glad to see it.

Japanese Skiing — Nordic Mostly

If you are at all familiar with Japanese skiing you know they are more competitive in the Nordic events especially ski jumping. Why is this? There are a number snow resorts in Japan and they are very competitive in a number of winter athletic events, so why the lack of outstanding Alpine ski program? The same goes for Russia too, again competitive in almost every winter event but for Alpine skiing. However, Russia is focusing on SkiX.

I can understand why many nations do not field competitive ski teams, many nations do not have ready access to snow and so there is no interest, except for maybe a handful of their expatriates.

One Unlikely Ski Nation

Despite their foray into bobsledding Jamaica is not a snowsports nation. Erol Kerr is an exception in an exceptional nation. Erol Kerr is a SkiX competitor and I have yet to see him in a SkiX event this year. Of course we do not expect Jamaica to field any skiers let alone one.

I hope to see more of this in the future!