Athlete profile: Masahiko Harada

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

The undisputed leader of the new "Rising Sun Flyers" is known as Happy Harada for his trademark smile that never seems to leave his face -- except one day in Norway, four years ago... in Lillehammer, Harada only needed to land a less-than-mediocre 104-meter jump on his second attempt at the large hill to seal the gold medal for the Japanese team...in a historic meltdown, Harada landed only 97.5m from where he took off and Germany took gold..."Everything was white, in my head, I could only see white," Harada remembers...many feel Harada was a victim of some gamesmanship employed by German Jens Weissflog (YENZ VICE-flog) before the final jump..."I let him get a bit in my head," admits Harada. "My teammates told me that they are proud to win the silver medal, but it was the team competition, with the Olympics only happening every four years, I felt like I let the whole country down"...Harada had entered the Lillehammer Games as the 1993 world champion on the normal hill -- he had been feted on his return from the Worlds and met with the Emperor...but many Japanese memories of Harada are from Lillehammer - crouched down and frozen on snow..."Even now, some people passing by turn around and say, ‘There goes the guy that failed,'" laughs Harada...after that disastrous Olympics, he went into a period of anguish...he started to question his unique takeoff -- the majority of the top jumpers remain low and dive forward at the take-off to minimize the air pressure that slows them down, but Harada jumps high into the air taking advantage of his vertical..."After Lillehammer, I told myself, ‘it's over, forget the past,'" says Harada...for redemption, Harada thought he had to take on the challenge to learn a new style, and ended up dropping in the standings, Eventsually being taken off the Japanese World Cup team..."When I got to the bottom, I realized that it's OK to be Harada or rather, I got to be Harada," he remembers..."The most important thing for me was to raise the level of my bad jumps. Super jumps will be there naturally if I'm more consistent"...now Harada is leaping hard and soaring high at the take-off again with confidence...his comeback came full circle at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, where he became the large hill world champion...it is hard to see a world champion competitor in a guy who is as polite and smiley as Harada, but he has won at every level since his childhood on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido..."I jumped for the first time when I was a third grader...the only reason I started was because I wanted to be with my friends," says Harada. "I stood at the top of the 20k hill and could not move until an older kid pushed me. It wasn't a jump, I just fell"...soon a ski jumping addict, Harada was the national elementary school champion, national junior high school champion, and national high school champion..."I guess you can call me an elite," he laughs...despite what he says, Harada, now a 29 year-old veteran, still carries the image of a home-run-or-strike-out jumper..."That's only because of the last season," says Harada. "Last year I had a great summer season, then a terrible winter season until the World Championships. I really believe that I have an ability now to win consistently in any kind of conditions"...Harada says he wants to show a "Harada jump" in Nagano come February..."Not the inconsistent one," he laughs. "A real Harada jump is the high arching jump with a powerful take-off. A jump that anybody can recognize as Harada -like you can almost see the wings"... on the normal hill at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics in Harada's hometown, Yukio Kasaya led an imporbably Japanese sweep of the normal hill...now as the Olympics return to Japan, Harada really wants a medal in Nagano, not just any medal, but gold..."The Japanese team is so strong, there is a realistic chance of us getting all three medals," says Harada. "So if I really want to stand out, then I have to win the gold medal"... this time around, Harada hopes his smile would stay on his face..."I want to go all the way with Harada smile," says Harada laughing, "I got so carried away with people telling me I have a nice smile, that I went to the dentist and fixed my chipped front tooth"...Harada married his wife Eiko (AY-koh) right after the Olympics in 1994..."When I was in that slump after the Olympics, my wife really helped me to see the big picture and enabled me to go forward," says Harada...the Nagano Olympics will start on February 7th, the third birthday of their daughter, Aina (EYE-nah)...the Japanese fans lined up over a night to get the tickets to the ski jumping competition in the Olympics...Harada thinks the fan support will lift the Japanese team up to the top of the podium..."At the Olympics in Nagano, I would like for the fans to blow really hard at us," says Harada. "And don't forget to swing those flags - that wind will reach us"..."I feel very fortunate to be able to compete in three Olympics," says Harada. "Now I even get to compete in Japan, how can I stop smiling?"...