Japan Begins New Zealand Winter Games With a Bang

Two of Japan’s medallists from the 2010 Paralympic Games, Shoko Ota and Yoshihiro Nitta, enjoyed success this past weekend with two first-place finishes at the 2011 New Zealand Winter Games.

Double-Paralympic Games champion, Nitta, competing in the LW8 classification, won the men’s 10km Cross-Country standing event on Saturday before claiming victory in the Cross-Country sprint the following day. Teammate Ota, a silver-medal winner in Vancouver, won the same two events on the women’s side in the LW8 classification.

In Saturday’s 10km Cross-Country sit-ski competition, Canada’s Colette Bourgonje took the title on the women’s side with a time of 20:23.5, while Canada’s Chris Klebel finished in 19:12.8 as the lone participant on the men’s side.

Adaptive events at the Winter Games, which include Giant Slalom, Slalom, Super G, Cross-Country Skiing and Snowboard Cross will continue on Tuesday with the Cross-Country freestyle competition.