Kentaro Minagawa (皆川 賢太郎, Minagawa Kentarō, born May 17, 1977)[1] is a Japanese alpine skier.
His first international successes were at the 1996 Junior World Championships in Schwyz, with a 5th rank in Slalom, and a 9th rank in Giant Slalom.[2][3]
Since the 1997 Alpine Skiing World Cup he has been participating regularly in World Cup races, nine times ranking in the top ten.[4] Shortly before the 2006 Winter Olympics he ranked 4th in Wengen, Switzerland. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy he also ranked 4th, the best result of a Japanese skier since Chiharu Igaya's silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics.[5]
In June 2009, he married Japanese popular freestyle skier, Aiko Uemura.[6]
Notes and references
- ^ "Biography, MINAGAWA Kentaro". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ "Results, Slalom 1996 FIS Junior World Ski Championships". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ "Results, Giant Slalom 1996 FIS Junior World Ski Championships". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ "Results, FIS World Cup, MINAGAWA Kentaro". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ "Minagawa close, but shut out of medal in slalom". The Japan Times. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ Olympians Aiko Uemura and Kentaro Minagawa Ties the Knot Archived 2009-06-15 at the Wayback Machine accessed 2010-06-09