After adding two bronze medals to his Olympic trophy cabinet in Nordic combined, Akito Watabe is convinced the Beijing Games' thrilling finishes generated new fans for the sport in Japan.
The 33-year-old individual normal hill silver medalist in both the Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Games secured his first medal in Beijing in the individual large hill on Tuesday before guiding his country to its first medal in the relay since gold in 1992 and 1994, with both medals being decided only in the final seconds.
"It's been an Olympics which I can confidently say we've provided the viewers with fun races. Frankly, it's something I'm really happy about," Watabe said.