Athlete profile: Satoru Terao

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

As an 18-year-old in Lillehammer, Terao was considered the best skater among the Japanese men...four years later, the gap between Terao and his cohorts has widened, and it is believed that in Nagano, short track fans will witness the culmination of Terao's rise into the sport's elite...Terao had joined the national team just one year before the Lillehammer Games and, in 1994, was still in his final year of high school...still, he surprised the field in the 1,000m by reaching the semifinals, and then nearly grabbing a medal after a host of disqualifications in the A-final...but, according to Terao, he did not make too much of his achievements then..."I just took it easy," says Terao. "Any time I am the fastest, I am happy"...Terao has gradually improved every year, but 1996-97 was clearly his best...he won the overall points title at two of the four World Rankings Competitions in which he competed, and finished second at a third...then, in March, in front of a partisan Japanese crowd on Nagano's White Ring, Terao finished third in the 500m, second in the 3,000m (a non-Olympic Events), and tied with Canadian Derrick Campbell for third in the overall points race...of his championship performance, Terao says: "I was satisfied in the 500m but not in the 1,000m because I fell"...his spill not withstanding, Terao prefers the longer distance -- "I like the 1,000m better because there is too much luck involved in the 500m"...he feels that his best attribute is his ability to accelerate quickly and, therefore, pass skaters in front of him...like most Japanese athletes, Terao is certainly looking forward to competing at the Winter Olympics in his home country..."For me, a medal would show the result of 12 years of hard work," says Terao. "And, certainly, my family will come"...he is confident of success so long as "I always concentrate and don't let my guard down"...each of the past two summers, Terao has traveled to Bormio, Italy to participate in a 10-day summer training camp sponsored by the Italian national team...Terao grew up in Toyota City, which, of course, is where the automobile of the same name is manufactured...his father works in the Toyota factory and helps to make the body of each vehicle on the assembly line...his mother is a clerk for a construction company...he has an older brother...Terao first laced up the skates as an ice hockey player when he was nine...he decided to try short track two years later at the encouragement of a friend...says Terao of his decision to switch sports: "I borrowed skates to try short track and felt that it (short track skating) was faster than hockey. So I changed"...Terao is currently in his fourth year of studying sociology at a university in Asuke-cho, a town not far from Toyota City...even though his father worked for Toyota, Terao decided to purchase a Honda Accord last year..."My father was not happy but not so upset either," says Terao...he spends much of his spare time washing his car...he used to play competitive table tennis and also did cycling when he was younger...Terao knows a couple of English words...