Atsuko Tanaka leaves Japanese team and will jump again for Canada.
Two years ago Atsuko Tanaka, Canadian of Japanese background, left the Canadian Ski Team and since jumped for the Japanese Team. Now she returned to her old home and wants to start for the Canadian Team again. “I was in Japan for 2 years because I wanted to go to College there, and I have graduated this March”, she said to Ladies-Skijumping.com. Tanaka will be able to start for the Canadian team already this summer, because a decision by the FIS congress, that was held at the beginning of the month in Kangwonland (KOR), allows her to move without a penalty.
Although she had won a CoC for Canada in 2008, she never really made the breakthrough in the Japanese team in her two years there. “There are many strong competitors in Japan and it was difficult to qualify for the team to go to international competitions. I would like to be back on the podium again, but the level of womens skijumping has grown so much and I have to work harder than before to get back up there”, she said.