Olympics: Japan Olympic executive targets 20 golds in Paris
Source: The Mainichi
TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Japanese Olympic Committee’s secretary general on Wednesday revealed a 20-gold medal target for the nation’s team at the upcoming Paris Games.
If achieved, the total would surpass Japan’s highest gold medal count at an overseas Summer Olympics, the 16 won in Athens in 2004.
“The most important thing is to convey the value of sports that cannot just be measured by the number of medals, but the athletes need to perform in order for people to cheer them on,” Mitsugi Ogata told reporters after a meeting of head coaches.
“If the athletes compete well, the target can be reached.”
Ogata is also serving as Japan’s Chef de Mission in Paris.
The JOC is aiming for 55 medals in total, a figure that would surpass its highest overseas figure so far of 41 from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
In 2021, at the Tokyo Olympics, Japan won 27 golds and 58 medals overall.
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