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Prime Minister Koizumi Holds a Ceremony to Present Commemorative Gifts to Top Finishers of the 2006 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Turin Friday, May 12, 2006 JAPANESE Click photographs to enlarge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi invited about 60 athletes who finished in the top eight at the 2006 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Turin to the Prime Minister's Official Residence and held a ceremony to present them with commemorative gifts. After the presentation of gifts to the representatives of the athletes, Prime Minister Koizumi addressed the participants, saying, "You have made excellent achievements beyond the ability of ordinary people. You have withstood all accompanying pressure, which is an experience that will help you like nothing else in the new challenges that lie ahead of you. I hope your experiences will help you to do your best in whatever goals you set and whatever fields you advance into in the future." After the address, the representative of the Olympic athletes and figure skater Ms. Shizuka Arakawa presented her compliments, "I owe it to the warm cheers and support of the Japanese people that I was able to win the medal. I will aim to make further improvements in my endeavors from here on." Ms. Kuniko Obinata, the representative of the Paralympic athletes and an alpine skier closed the ceremony with her greeting, "Our next goal is the Paralympic Games in Vancouver four years from now. To do even better than we did at the last Paralympic Games, we athletes swear to make greater efforts. At the same time, we would once again like to ask for your further support so that athletes are able to concentrate on their training free from concerns." View Video (Available only in Japanese) Real(Narrowband) / Real(Broadband) Windows Media(Narrowband) / Windows Media(Broadband)