Unleashing the Rising Sun: Who Will Emerge as Japan’s MVP at the Paris Olympics
Japan’s Most Valuable Athletes at the Paris Olympics
Japan Data
Sports 2024.09.10
The Paris Olympics was abuzz with the success of Japanese athletes. Who was the Most Valuable Player (MVP)?
Gymnast Oka Shinnosuke, who won the most medals for Japan at the Paris Olympics with four (three gold and one bronze), came in first in the rankings of the most valuable athletes (MVPs) representing Japan at the Paris Olympics. The Sports Management Research Institute of the Sanno University conducted an online survey of 1,000 men and women (aged 20-69) across the country about the 430 members of the Japanese national team (232 men and 198 women).
In the MVP rankings, following Oka (104 votes), women’s javelin thrower Kitaguchi Haruka (92 votes) came in second, and men’s judoist Abe Hifumi (54 votes) came in third. Most of the names on the list are medalists, and we can see a tendency to place importance on achievements.
In the ranking of Most Impressive Athletes (MIP), Kitaguchi (83 votes), who won Japan’s first gold medal in a women’s field event and whose smile was memorable, came in first. In second place was Oka (79 votes), and in third place was Abe (51 votes).
The results of the survey on satisfaction with performance, which allowed multiple answers, were different from the MVP and MIP rankings, in which only one player was chosen. The top spot went to women’s table tennis player Hayata Hina (310 votes), who won bronze in the singles and silver in the team event. Harimoto Miwa (237 votes) and Hirano Miu (230 votes), who both performed well in the team event, were also ranked high.
In a survey about the most memorable athletes from outside Japan, Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec (24 votes), who won the silver medal in shooting, was chosen as the top choice. His casual T-shirt style and unique pose of putting his left hand in his pocket while firing became a hot topic, and in Japan he was nicknamed ”Non-Paying Uncle” in reference to people who don’t spend money on equipment in social games. In second place was France’s Teddy Riner (23 votes), who showed an overwhelming presence in men’s judo.
The survey also asked about the sports to look out for at the Los Angeles Olympics. From the 35 sports currently confirmed as part of the games, respondents were asked to select up to five sports they were particularly interested in, and the percentage of people who answered yes was defined as the “level of interest.” In first place was the ”specialty” of judo (24.2%). In second place was baseball and softball (21.9%), which will be making a comeback since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
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