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Athlete of the Week: Akito Watabe (JPN)
Akito Watabe is back on top! The 26-year-old claimed his first season win after a strong performance on the jumping hill and even more so in the soft tracks of Lahti which were true „Akito-Watabe-conditions“.
Known to be a good but not superb cross-country skiers, Watabe definitely showed a great race in the difficult conditions, hanging in the bigger pursuing group that also featured the strong skiers Fabian Riessle, Johannes Rydzek and Magnus Krog but not burning too much energy to close the gap to the front as it has often been his mistake in the past. Much to the surprise of many, Watabe went with Rydzek and Riessle when they made their attack at the beginning of the last lap.
With his light bodyweight, Watabe is known to excel in difficult snow conditions and really, not only did he leave Fabian Riessle behind in the course of the last lap but a smart maneuver on the last downhill catapulted Watabe to the front going into the stadium. Everybody who follows the Nordic Combined World Cup knows that still, only very few manage to win a finish line sprint against Johannes Rydzek when he is in close vicinity and that sprinting for a victory is usually not a strong suit for Watabe. Against all odds, though, the Japanese stayed strong and left Rydzek behind on the final stretch.
„I was able to go fast and in the end, I thought I had the most power left but in the last downhill, Akito managed to squeeze by. I wasn’t able to do anything about it on the outer lane“, a slightly surprised Johannes Rydzek said after the race and also Watabe seemed to be a little put out by his own success which came late in the season as usual: „It was a very difficult day and the racing felt very slow but I had a very very good ski and much power left in the end. It was just full gas in the last kilometer and I am very very satisfied to have a victory and beat the strong sprinter Johannes Rydzek“.
After a World Championship in Falun not to his taste with three sixth and one seventh place, that „felt the same as three fourth places in Val di Fiemme 2013“, as Watabe said in the press conference, this victory had the Japanese bouncing back. It also puts him in the middle of the fight for the remaining two podium places in the overall World Cup ranking after Eric Frenzel secured his win on the past weekend already.
When jokingly being asked after his disqualification due to ski length in the Team Sprint on Saturday if this was just a secret plan to save some energy to attack in the last two individuals, the reaction was in true „Watabe-style“: „Hmmm, I hadn’t thought about that… but this is actually a great idea!“, he quipped, laughed good-naturedly and disappeared to prepare for the last two competitions of the season. Akito Watabe, we are watching out for you in Trondheim and Oslo!
Known to be a good but not superb cross-country skiers, Watabe definitely showed a great race in the difficult conditions, hanging in the bigger pursuing group that also featured the strong skiers Fabian Riessle, Johannes Rydzek and Magnus Krog but not burning too much energy to close the gap to the front as it has often been his mistake in the past. Much to the surprise of many, Watabe went with Rydzek and Riessle when they made their attack at the beginning of the last lap.
With his light bodyweight, Watabe is known to excel in difficult snow conditions and really, not only did he leave Fabian Riessle behind in the course of the last lap but a smart maneuver on the last downhill catapulted Watabe to the front going into the stadium. Everybody who follows the Nordic Combined World Cup knows that still, only very few manage to win a finish line sprint against Johannes Rydzek when he is in close vicinity and that sprinting for a victory is usually not a strong suit for Watabe. Against all odds, though, the Japanese stayed strong and left Rydzek behind on the final stretch.
„I was able to go fast and in the end, I thought I had the most power left but in the last downhill, Akito managed to squeeze by. I wasn’t able to do anything about it on the outer lane“, a slightly surprised Johannes Rydzek said after the race and also Watabe seemed to be a little put out by his own success which came late in the season as usual: „It was a very difficult day and the racing felt very slow but I had a very very good ski and much power left in the end. It was just full gas in the last kilometer and I am very very satisfied to have a victory and beat the strong sprinter Johannes Rydzek“.
After a World Championship in Falun not to his taste with three sixth and one seventh place, that „felt the same as three fourth places in Val di Fiemme 2013“, as Watabe said in the press conference, this victory had the Japanese bouncing back. It also puts him in the middle of the fight for the remaining two podium places in the overall World Cup ranking after Eric Frenzel secured his win on the past weekend already.
When jokingly being asked after his disqualification due to ski length in the Team Sprint on Saturday if this was just a secret plan to save some energy to attack in the last two individuals, the reaction was in true „Watabe-style“: „Hmmm, I hadn’t thought about that… but this is actually a great idea!“, he quipped, laughed good-naturedly and disappeared to prepare for the last two competitions of the season. Akito Watabe, we are watching out for you in Trondheim and Oslo!
Source: fis-ski.com
