In a Japanese TV show, Noriaki Kasai surprised the audience by showing off certificates for his seven Guinness world records.
The latest one the 52-year-old received after being confirmed as the athlete who has participated in the most World Cup competitions in ski jumping – 579 distributed over 34 seasons.
When I got the seventh world record verified, they said I tied with Ichiro Suzuki, so now I want to get the eighth one, said Kasai in the TV show according to Skispringen.com.
Ichiro Suzuki is the Japanese baseball legend who also has seven Guinness world records.
To surpass his countryman, the ski jumper plans to become the oldest athlete in history to jump over 200 meters.
Besides aiming to get eight certificates, the ski icon is targeting a spot in the Olympic Games in Cortina 2026. A Winter Olympic Games that would be his ninth in his career. The first one was the Olympic Games in Albertville, France, 1992.
If he becomes part of the Japanese athletes competing in Italy in February, he will end up in a shared second place among those who have participated in the most Olympic Games of all time. This with Hubert Raudaschl and Afanasijs Kuzmins. The record holders, with ten Olympic Games, are the Canadian rider Ian Millar and the Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze.
On his merit list, Kasai has, among other things, two Olympic silver medals, one Olympic bronze medal, as well as two World Championship silver medals.
