Nikkei in the 2006 Winter Olympics?

vkm's picture
Submitted by vkm on Mon, 01/23/2006 - 15:15.

The Torino Olympics is coming up! I don't know about others, but I've always had a fascination with the Olympics since I was young. I remember spending day after day watching the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with my sister. Something about the ideals of the Games really appeals to me.

One thing that I find myself doing every Games is looking for Japanese American athletes. It's pride mixed in with a sense of belonging. Since I'll never compete myself, somehow I feel a little more connected when the athlete on the television screen is Nikkei. (It's the same with movies, television, or other high profile areas)

This year, I looked online and found two Nikkei athletes competing in the Games representing the US - Apolo Anton Ohno (who's half-Japanese), a very high-profile athlete competing in short-track speed skating, and Rena Inoue, half of the US' pairs figure skating team. She's originally from Japan, but has become a naturalized citizen of the US.

Does anyone know of any other Nikkei representing the US or other countries in this year's Games?

‹ Nikkei, Japanese American (or Japanese Canadian, Japanese Brazilian, etc), or Asian American? How much is Japanese language tied to Nikkei communities? ›

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Japanese Canadian Olympic athletes
vkm's picture
Submitted by vkm on Thu, 02/09/2006 - 16:30.

Found two Japanese Canadian athletes on the Torino Games website:
Paul Kariya & Vicky Sunohara. Both are ice hockey players.


Nikkei Olympic athletes results
vkm's picture
Submitted by vkm on Sat, 02/25/2006 - 17:04.
Congratulations to all of the Nikkei 2006 Olympic athletes. Here are the results for the ones I mentioned before. Please post if I've missed any!
Rena Inouye with partner John Baldwin finished 7th in the Pairs Ice Skating competition.
Apolo Anton Ohno - in four short-track skating events, he finishes with 8th place in the 1500m, a bronze medal in the 1000m, gold in the 500m, and a bronze as part of the United States' 5000m relay team.
There has been a lot of coverage (articles, interviews, video clips, photos, etc) about Ohno in the press and in various websites. I found an interesting thing on NBC's Olympic website - Apolo's father Yuki has a blog about his son: Access Polo
Paul Kariya and the Men's Canadian hockey team lost to Russia in the quarterfinals.
Vicky Sunohara, the veteran on the talented Women's Canadian hockey team, won a gold medal with her teammates. She now has a total of 2 gold and 1 silver Olympic medals.
Article about Vicky Sunohara - SCARBOROUGH’S VICKY SUNOHARA: A FIRSTHAND LOOK AT THE GROWING GAME OF FEMALE HOCKEY


Don't forget
tdk's picture
Submitted by tdk on Sun, 02/26/2006 - 10:41.

Also congrats to Japan's only medalist, Shizuka Arakawa, winner of women's figure skating. If it can't be an American, it's nice to see a winner from Japan. Arakawa Gets Attention, Golden Doughnuts by BARRY WILNER


speaking of tasty treats...
vkm's picture
Submitted by vkm on Sat, 03/04/2006 - 13:16.
Sorry, I'm going on a little tangent here, but the golden doughnuts reminded me of Beard Papa's cream puffs (or maybe I'm just hungry). =)
Despite the name, Beard Papa is a Japanese cream puff franchise that now has locations in the United States. The first location was in New York, and drew lines acrowd the block when they first opened. There are now four locations in New York, plus franchises in New Jersey, Boston, California, and Hawaii.
My husband and I first tasted these heavenly cream puffs while visiting a friend in New York last spring. They're definitely Japanese-style cream puffs, but the things that make them extra special are that first of all, they're huge! Secondly and most importantly, they're so fresh. They make the pastries daily on-site, and they don't fill them until you order (or they fill small batches at a time when they're busy).
Okay...maybe I am craving one right now (one is all I can eat at one time). They have weekly special puffs (chocolate, strawberry, green tea) that have flavored custard filling. My favorite puff is the green tea. It's filled with green tea filling with green tea powder sprinkled on top. Yum! Last year, they opened a location near where I live. Life is wonderful!
I'm so glad to be living and working in areas with a lot Japanese restaurants, markets, and businesses. I think it would make it so hard not to live somewhere at least within driving range. I think I would miss the food too much!