News

Figure Skater Mone Chiba smiles and promises to do well at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics!

Mone Chiba (School of Human Sciences’ Online Degree Program) and figure skater for Waseda University’s figure skating club visited President Aiji Tanaka with club director Yoshihiko Fukushima (Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Economics), former figure skating club coach Miwa Fukuhara (Waseda University Sports Award recipient), and figure skating club coach Junko Yaginuma to report that she will represent Japan in the women’s figure skating competition at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which began on February 6th.

(From left: Skating Club Director Yoshihiko Fukushima, Skating Club Figure Skating Team Coach Junko Yaginuma, President Tanaka, Mone Chiba, Miwa Fukuhara, former Skating Club Figure Skating Team Coach (a Waseda Sports Award recipient) and the Director of the Office of the President Matsuo)

Chiba expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “The Olympics has been my dream since I started skating, so I want to do my best and have no regrets.” President Tanaka responded with words of encouragement, saying, “I know you will be nervous, but I want you to give it your all without forcing yourself.”

Chiba, who is currently enrolled in the School of Human Sciences’ Online Degree Program, always brings her laptop with her when she travels abroad, and whenever she finds the time between tournaments and practice sessions or while waiting at the airport, she works hard on assignments. It was very impressive to hear her say, “Learning is difficult, but right now I’m having a lot of fun.”

After her talk with President Tanaka, she received words of encouragement from the members of the skating club. Since she is not usually able to participate in face-to-face skating club activities, she has been communicating with her club members online. There were various reactions, with some members hugging each other in joy at their long-awaited reunion and others speaking face-to-face for the first time, and everyone enjoyed taking commemorative photos despite looking nervous.

Hoping for a return visit to the Sports Museum

After enjoying her time together with the skating club members, Chiba went to the Waseda Sports Museum on the Toyama Campus to learn about the history of Waseda sports.

In particular, she was enthusiastic about viewing the exhibits on Olympic gold medalists in figure skating, Shizuka Arakawa (graduated from the School of Education in 2004) and Yuzuru Hanyu (graduated from the School of Human Sciences’ Online Degree Program in 2020).

In response to a request from the staff saying, “If you win a medal at the Olympics, we would like to have a special exhibit here at the Sports Museum,” Chiba responded with a strong “I’ll do my best to make that happen!” and even signed an autograph to commemorate her visit.

All students, faculty and staff at Waseda University wish Chiba great success at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.