PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai is set to become the first athlete to compete at eight Winter Olympic Games when he steps on the piste at the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
"I knew it would be the eighth edition for me, that it would be a new record, and that new record put a lot of pressure on me, but I made it," said Kasai, who will surpass Russian luger Albert Demchenko's mark for the most appearances at the Winter Olympics.
The 45-year-old ski jumper, who will also compete in the large hill at PyeongChang 2018, set a record at Sochi 2014 by becoming the oldest ski jumper to take an Olympic medal in the sport.
Kasai said: "After the Games in Sochi, I had a very, very busy schedule outside of ski competitions. During that period of lack of training, I still made a certain level of results. That convinced me that after training more I would be competitive again."
Kasai won two medals in Sochi, large hill silver and team event bronze. That came 20 years after he won his first Olympic medal in the Lillehammer 1994 team event.
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will run from February 9-25.
