Okabe, Takanobu

The Japanese debut in the World Cup took place on December 16, 1989 at the stage held in the Japanese Sapporo . The first success came to the Japanese only after 4 years. At the 1992-93 World Cup stage in Norwegian Lillehammer, the Japanese became the second after the Norwegian Espen Bredesen , and less than a month later the Japanese as a member of the national team won the team competitions at the world cup stage, which was held in Planica at the famous Letnitsa .

In 1994, at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, with the participation of Okabe, the Japanese team managed to win silver medals in team competitions. The following year, Takanobu won two medals at the Thunder Bay World Championships : gold in individual competitions on the normal springboard and bronze in team competitions.

In the 1996/97 season, the Japanese took 4th place in the overall standings of the World Cup and the Four Springboard Tour , scoring 3 victories in the Cup stages. In the next season, Takanobu, together with the national team, becomes the Olympic champion at the Nagano Games , and also takes 6th place in the competitions on the big springboard.

Subsequently, Takanobu was able to twice become the winner of the world championship in the team championship in Sapporo and Liberec . March 10, 2009 at the age of 38 years and 135 days, the Japanese won his last victory in the World Cup, becoming the oldest winner of the Cup stages ^[1] . He was a record holder until January 11, 2014 , when his achievement was blocked by compatriot Noriaki Kasai , who won at the age of 41 and 218 days ^[2] .

Takanobu Okabe at the Winter Olympics

Takanobu Okabe Wins World Cups

• Okabe on the FIS website