Gold medal hope Hanyu relishing Sochi challenge

smh... the ridiculous J-media is already predicting a "record number of Japanese gold medals" and on channel 8 this morning some moron is predicting 4 gold, 4 solver and 4 bronze for Japan.

I am from the US and I have never seen American news shows predicting record amounts of medals for the US or listing how many golds our athletes will take.

Is this some kind of Japanese inferiority complex?

Debucho: "smh... the ridiculous J-media is already predicting a "record number of Japanese gold medals" and on channel 8 this morning some moron is predicting 4 gold, 4 solver and 4 bronze for Japan"

They always do, and then a few weeks later they have to hold a press conference explaining why they got one to three medals, tops, whereas Korea scored third or fourth place overall. I absolutely hate that they predict how many medals they get, as though they were entitled, and wish they would simply HOPE for the athletes to do their best and maybe get some medals. I remember at the last Olympics everyone, including the media, already talking about Asada Mao's gold, and then NO ONE AT ALL talking about figure skating the minute after Kim Yu-Na won it. These incessant 'record haul' predictions only lead to disappointment.

Anyway, as for Hanyu, best of luck. Figure skating for both men and women is definitely neck and neck in terms of competition, and it'll be interesting to read the results. Hanyu is young and very talented, and should do well.

whereas Korea scored third or fourth place overall

Smith, I understand you have a korean wife but why the obsession? The article is about Hanyu. By the way, korea has never been 3rd or 4th overall in medals

kickboard: "Smith, I understand you have a korean wife but why the obsession?"

First, I have only been talking about Korea in direct relation to the JOC's media predictions because after the Vancouver Olympics, and other Olympics as well, the JOC has had to make press reports about how they are sorry to have not gotten more medals, try to explain the rationale behind the predictions, and especially after Vancouver had to field questions about why South Korea got so many more medals than Japan. Here's a slightly abridged version:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2010/03/02/olympics/winter-olympics/japan-chief-pleased-with-showing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=japan-chief-pleased-with-showing

Even in the abridged version (the original was more detailed) Hashimoto addresses the South Korean count by comparison, and the article points out the medal tally was WELL below the 10 or so they had predicted. So, it's not an 'obsession', as you call it, but me pointing out that the JOC and media should stop constantly predicting a 'record haul' and so many golds as it always leads to disappointment. SK was much more conservative in their prediction -- 5 medals total -- and superceded it with a whopping 14. Is Hashimoto obsessed because she talked about the South Korean tally vs. the Japanese? There you go!

"The article is about Hanyu."

And hence, if you actually read my comment, you'd see the last paragraph is almost entirely about Hanyu. The first was addressing another poster's comment.

@Debucho. How would making a prediction, realistic or otherwise, imply an inferiority complex? Further, you say "I am from the US and I have never seen American news shows predict...". Meaning what exactly? That because the US doesn't do it, others are wrong if they do? The US and many other countries quite often use the term "hopefuls" in a specific sport (gold hopeful, Ms. X, medal hopeful, Mr. Y). This is little less than an outright prediction. In fact, only really semantics, IMO.

Antoine: Debucho is correct, and I think he's right about the inferiority complex. Saying "hopeful" is not at all the same as the predictions the JOC makes, as though they've already got the medals in hand. To be fair, some media are less arrogant about it, but some have more or less already declared the results before the games have even begun.

I agree, debucho is correct. If you've lived here in Japan for a long time, as I have, you'd know how it is. The Olympics here are all about Japanese gold medals. If you watched the Olympics on TV here, you'd think they were the Japan games. Hours of the third place Japanese men's gymnastics team with a few seconds of the non Japanese gold medalists sticking their landings, for example.

Meanwhile, south korea has predicted 6 gold medals and 12 medals overall. But of course when they do it, it's not because they have an "inferiority complex" is it?