Noriaki Kasai: Focus on PyeongChang

Noriaki Kasai presented himself in a really good shape at the end of the past season. With finishing third in Vikersund and a fourth and a second place at the World Cup final in Planica, the Japanese crowd favorite could once again prove his outstanding Ski Flying skills.

After Noriaki Kasai himself and also the entire Japanese team could not achieve the result they had hoped for this past winter, the focus now is already on next season, especially on the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang (KOR).

"I already won silver and bronze at the Olympics, but I'm still lacking a gold medal", the 44-year-old, who stood on the podium at the Games in Sochi 2014 in the individual event on the large hill (2nd) and in the team competition (3rd), is quoted on hochi.co.jp.

In order to achieve this goal, the veteran is planning to make some changes in his preparation for the new season. "In the last two or three years I was not training that much, now I'll reduce the number of speeches and TV appearances I do. I notice that I lost a lot of strength due to my age and I want to regain the self-confidence in training."

After a break in April, the preparation for the next big tasks ahead will start with a training camp on the Miyako-jima island in May, before Kasai will go to Finland for three weeks in June.