Who Is Akito Watabe? Wiki, Combined Skier, Net Worth, Silver Medal & Facts To Know

Akito Watabe is born in 1988 in Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture. He is a Japanese Nordic combined skier who has been competing since 2005. He won gold medal in the 4 * 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and also earned his best individual finish of 31st in the 7.5 km sprint at Sapporo in 2007. Competing in two Winter Olympics, Watabe earned his best finish of sixth in the 4 * 5 team event at Vancouver in 2010 and had his best individual finish of ninth in the 10 km individual large hill event at those same games. His best World Cup finish was third at a 10 km individual large hill event in Finland in March 2010, until the 2011/2012 season when he started to win World Cup competitions. During the Winter 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Akito Watabe took home the silver medal in the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen NH / 10 km, Cross-Country event. In the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Watabe won the silver medal in the normal hill/10 km Nordic combined competition. His wife, Yurie Watabe, is a Japanese freestyle skier, who specialises in halfpipe. The athlete has studied Sports Science from the Waseda Univeristy in Tokyo, Japan. He can speak English and Japanese. He trained in the club Kitano Construction Corp. under coach Takanori Kono who is a national level coach and coach JPN. His younger brother Yoshito competed in Nordic combined at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. He made his debut at the 2006 World Cup in Sapporo, Japan. He won the 2017/18 World Cup event in Ruka, Finland, despite having suffered a fracture of his costal cartilage [rib] in a cross-country skiing training accident a few days before. He broke his wrist in a ski jumping training crash in 2006 in Kuusamo, Finland. He was sidelined for two months. He began cross-country skiing when he was in first grade at primary school, and ski jumping when he was in fourth grade. He took up Nordic combined at age 12 because his parents liked skiing and moved to Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture where many ski resorts are located, so it was natural for him to take up the sport. He was also inspired by watching the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano as a boy. His training includes weight training and roller skiing. Watabe follows some certain rituals, "I use Zen to keep my mind calm. I meditate when I need it, like before leaving the hotel for competition. It allows me to accept everything. What has happened and what will happen. It allows me to let go and focus on what I have to do." He revealed in an interview about his philosophy, "I don't think about the future. I don't look back on the past. I devote all my effort to what I should do now." He received the 2014 Olympic Winter Games Excellent Citation Award from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In 2014 he received the Nagano Citizen Honorary Award in Japan. He received a Special Achievement Award at the 2013 Japanese Olympic Committee [JOC] Sports Awards. In 2011 he received the JOC Sports Award in Japan.

The net worth of Akito Watabe is currently under review.

Akito Watabe has a height of 5'8 and he weighs 135 pounds. A good height and physical fitness are crucial for any athlete's performance. Akito Watabe is available on Instagram @wtbakt. This is his official Instagram page.