The International Olympic Committee will award Japanese ski jumper Kazuyoshi Funaki the Olympic Order for his outstanding performance at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, the Japanese Olympic Committee said Monday.
The IOC will present the Olympic Order to the 26-year-old Funaki, the first active Japanese athlete to receive the honor, at a ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 23.
Funaki won the gold medal in the large-hill event and silver in the normal hill before claiming his second gold of the Games on home soil as a member of the Japanese team that won the team competition.
The Olympic Order is awarded to people who made notable contributions to the Olympic Movement.