LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new webinar series “Why Resilience Matters: How Adversity Molds Us” will dive into the latest news regarding the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. Part 1 of this free livestreaming event, co-presented by JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles, and Japan America Society of Southern California, will be available online on December 2 at 5 pm (PST) / December 3, 2020 at 10 am (JST)
The first webinar, Facing Setbacks Like a Champion, focuses on the athletes and the competitor's mindset. Apolo Ohno, the most decorated US Winter Olympian in history, will take the stage with surfing prodigy Kanoa Igarashi and World Champion Judoka Aaron Phillip Wolf. The conversation will be moderated by the award-winning anchor of ABC 7 News David Ono and will focus on how the Olympians have contended with adversity in training, including how delays caused by the novel coronavirus have impacted their lives. Now that the Tokyo Games have been officially rescheduled for 2021, the athletes can make public remarks about the challenges they have faced this year.
Additional information for Facing Setbacks Like a Champion can be found here.
Speaker Profiles
Kanoa Igarashi
Professional Surfer, 2020 Tokyo Olympics Representative
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/45d9bd1d-fd88-4ba9-87b3-5bf8c686f80f
Kanoa Igarashi has been surfing for as long as he can remember. His dad first put him on a surfboard in Huntington Beach, USA at the age of just three. He took to the sport with natural talent, competing in his first surf contest (which he won) at the age of six. Since then, Igarashi, whose parents immigrated to the US from Tokyo, Japan, has taken the surf world by storm. At age 14, he became the youngest surfer ever to win the US National Championships for under-18s and that same year won the Governor’s Cup at the Surfing America Championships and took second in the King of Groms Championships. He was the youngest rookie to enter the World Surf League Championship Tour in 2016 and has won the U.S. Open WSL two years in a row in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he won 1st place in the WSL CT at the Corona Bali Protected event. He currently belongs to the Kinoshita Group.
Apolo Ohno
8-time Olympic Medalist, Short Track Speed Skater
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7c1574ab-1e6f-4518-8708-9bc9c910b5d7
Reinvention is at the core of Apolo Anton Ohno. He acquired and honed this skill over a decade of Olympic speed skating competition during which he became the most decorated US Winter Olympian of all time. Apolo continually adapts that performance mindset to support ongoing personal and professional growth. He has drawn on this acumen to become a global cross-industry entrepreneur, a successful sports broadcaster and television personality, a New York Times best-selling author, and a lifelong scholar inside and outside the university setting. Apolo harnesses these experiences to educate and inspire organizations on how to foster a sustained leadership mindset needed to overcome current business challenges.
Aaron Phillip Wolf
Judoka, 2017 World Judo Championship Gold Medalist
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b7c0e127-aa3b-4279-9f3c-d2828dc03358
Aaron started Judo at the age of 6 at his grandfather’s suggestion. He won 3 titles the All National High School Tournament, Kinshu-Kikou High School Tournament, and the Inter-high Tournament when he was in his 2nd year at Tokaidai Urayasu High School. While pursuing his education at Tokai University in his first year, he won 7 consecutive Championships titles at the All National Judo Tournament, and won the championship at All Japan Junior Tournament, as well as taking the 3rd position at World Junior Tournament. Aaron has excellent power and stamina, and an excellent sense of choosing the right technique for the right situation. He is nearing to win in three different weight classes which historically only 8 people achieved. Aaron is a top candidate for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
David Ono (Moderator)
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2e17fa61-f1ce-491b-8a96-f40e6bf078c3
David Ono is the anchor for ABC7 Eyewitness News at 4pm and 6pm, the top rated newscasts in all of Los Angeles. He also anchors Eyewitness News on KDOC-TV at 7pm. David joined ABC7 in 1996 and during that time has witnessed history worldwide, covering Hurricane Katrina, Haiti's earthquake and Japan's tsunami. David has produced multiple award winning documentaries, two of which have made their way to the Smithsonian Institution.
Co-presented by JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles, Japan America Society of Southern California
About JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
JAPAN HOUSE is an innovative, worldwide project with three hubs, London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It seeks to nurture a deeper understanding of Japan in the international community. JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles occupies two floors at Hollywood & Highland and offers a place of new discovery that transcends the physical and conceptual boundaries creating experiences that reflect the best of Japan through its spaces and diverse programs.
Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Website: japanhousela.com
About The Japan America Society of Southern California (JASSC)
The JASSC was founded in 1909 to build economic, cultural, governmental, and personal relationships between the people of Japan and America. It is the premier educational and public affairs forum on the west coast dedicated to building and strengthening the relationship between the United States and Japan. The JASSC is a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable, and educational organization and are supported by 150 Japanese and American corporate members and over a thousand individual members.
US Media Contacts:
Nerissa Silao | 310-874-9230 | nerissas@ca.rr.com
Lisa Nakanouchi | 323-904-9298 | lnakanouchi@japanhousela.com
Japanese Media Contact:
Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles |(213) 617-6700 | press@ls.mofa.go.jp.