Japanese athletes fell woefully short of their goals for the 19th Olympic Winter Games, which came to a close in Salt Lake City on Sunday.
Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda, however, was pleased with the efforts of the delegation, which only won two of the 10 medals he had projected before the Games.
Further, he saw promise in a number of young athletes, like snowboarder Takaharu Nakai, who will carry Japan's hopes into the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
"I believe our athletes gave all they could," Takeda said as the Games drew to a close. "They made efforts to improve after Nagano, but athletes from other countries trained harder."