MORIOKA (Iwate Pref.): Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi, who won gold in the men’s individual normal hill event at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, was given a citizens’ award from the prefectural government of Iwate on Thursday.

The 25-year-old athlete, a native of the northeastern Japan prefecture, received the award from Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso at a ceremony in Morioka, the capital of the prefecture. It was the second time for Kobayashi to win the Iwate prefectural citizens’ award. He first received it in 2019.

“I have been able to come this far thanks to the support from so many people, so I am really happy and grateful,” Kobayashi said at the ceremony.

Kobayashi also made headlines by winning the overall title in the 2021-2022 World Cup for ski jumping, his second such feat in his career after he did so in the 2018-2019 season.

On his future performances, Kobayashi said: “Firstly, I will aim to secure one win at the (next) World Cup. There will be the world championships in the next season, so I look forward to it.”

Kobayashi, who continues to give encouragement to people in Iwate and always thinks of his home prefecture, is “loved and respected by many local citizens,” Tasso said, adding that he “deserves to become the first person to be given the Iwate prefectural citizens’ award for the second time.”

JIJI Press