Japanese Olympic officials called on the country's athletes to the Sydney Olympic Games to more than double their gold medal haul from Atlanta, when the Olympic delegation was officially launched in ceremonies Sunday. "Judging from the Olympic qualifiers and other competitions, we believe that this team has the strength to win eight gold medals," Japanese Olympic Committee president Yushiro Yagi told the delegation at a Tokyo hotel.
The JOC targeted seven gold medals for the Atlanta Olympics four years ago, but Japanese athletes returned home with only three gold medals -- all in judo -- and 14 medals altogether in the country's worst Olympic showing since the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Amateur baseball star Masanori Sugiura, selected as the delegation's captain, vowed, "We will compete with all our might to the very end to inspire the dreams and expectations of the children of the next century."
World champion judoka Kosei Inoue, who will carry the Japanese flag at the Sept. 15 opening ceremony in Sydney, accepted the banner from Yagi and JOC honorary president Yoshiaki Tsutsumi as Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako looked on. The Japanese delegation, comprised of 439 athletes and officials, is the second largest in Japanese Olympic history.