is a Japanese alpine skier who competed for Japan at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Early life

Ishii was born on 23 May 1989 in

Utashinai is a city located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is Japan's smallest city by population. History Utashinai was formerly a prosperous coal mining city, but its fortunes has declined greatly since the closing of the coal mines. Th ...

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

, Japan. He first skied at age 2 and took alpine skiing seriously during his first year of primary school in Utashinai. He studied at the

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Uni ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Career

Tomoya Ishii is part of Goldwin Ski Club a skiing organization based in Japan. In 2014 he moved to Austria to focus on his training as well as to compete in Europe. He trains under national coach

Yasuyuki Takishita is a Japanese alpine skier. He competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state ...

. He made his Olympic debut at the grand slalom event of the

on 18 February. He had a total time of 2:24.78 in two runs and placed 30th. In the first run he placed 35th. He is the best placed skier representing an Asian country.

References

1989 births Living people Tokai University alumni Skiers from Hokkaido Japanese male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Japan Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics 21st-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-alpine-skiing-bio-stub