Athlete profile: Chikage Tanaka

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

Athlete notes

With production crews having to commute an hour or more from Nagano to the other venues in Hakuba and Shiga Kogen, it may suit Tanaka well to sleep in her own bed...she has lived her entire life in Chino, a small town in Nagano prefecture that is approximately a 90-minute car ride from Nagano City...needless to say, Tanaka hopes that she peaks at just the right time..."I hope to get a medal in my home base," says Tanaka...Tanaka had perhaps the best performance of her career so far at last year's World Championships, held at the same White Ring in Nagano that will host the Olympic competition...with her family in the stands to witness it, Tanaka reached the semifinals of the 500m and says that, "I was very pleased with the result"...it was, in fact, the first time she had competed individually at a major championship...the 500m is Tanaka's preferred race mainly because she feels that her start is her biggest strength...also, she says that, "In the 500, you can just start and then go. You don't have to think very hard"...while she is among the older skaters on the Japanese squad, Tanaka is relatively new to short track...she switched from long track to short track just four years ago, at the same time that she entered a local university to study physical education...on her change in discipline, Tanaka says: "I found that short track was more interesting. I haven't given a thought to long track since then"...while she is pleased with how she has adapted to the smaller oval, she still believes that there is much room for improvement...she joined the national short track team before the 1994-95 season, but has only been fully focused on the sport since she graduated from school in 1996...Tanaka started skating when she was only three years old...her father owns a hardware store in Chino while her mother works for a company that makes appliances...she is sandwiched between two brothers...Tanaka, who enjoys reading and has a small dog, does not speak English...