(born 20 December 1969) is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

skier who won several medals at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

, and the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

. He won gold medals in the Nordic combined team events at the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

. Ogiwara won two gold medals each in the 15 km individual (1993, 1997) and the team (3 x 10 km: 1993, 4 x 5 km: 1995) events and one bronze in the 7.5 km sprint (1999) at the Nordic skiing world championships. In 1995, Ogiwara won the Nordic combined event at the Holmenkollen ski festival. Ogiwara received the Holmenkollen medal in 1995, becoming the first non-

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an and first

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n to ever receive the honor. At the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

, he took the Athlete's Oath. Ogiwara's twin brother Tsugiharu competed with him at the

1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1995 took place 9–19 March 1995 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. This marked the second time the separate championships (not part of Winter Olympics) were held outside Europe (the first was in the US towns ...

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, sharing a gold with him in the 4 x 5 km team event. Ogiwara has also stood as candidate for Liberal Democratic Party. Kenji Ogiwara ran for the Mayor of Nagano election, which was executed on October 31, 2021, won 98,711 votes, and was appointed Mayor of Nagano on November 11, 2021.

References

*
Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
- click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file
IOC 1998 Winter Olympics
1969 births Living people People from Gunma Prefecture Waseda University alumni Nordic combined skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Japanese male Nordic combined skiers Olympic Nordic combined skiers of Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan Japanese sportsperson-politicians Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) FIS Nordic Combined World Cup winners Japanese twins Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Olympic medalists in Nordic combined Twin sportspeople FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in Nordic combined Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Universiade medalists in nordic combined Oath takers at the Olympic Games Universiade gold medalists for Japan Competitors at the 1989 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 1991 Winter Universiade {{nordic-skiing-bio-stub