Manabu Horii

Manabu Horii appeared as a new sprint talent in 1993. Initially a 500 m skater, he took a bronze at the Lillehammer Olympics in that event. His 1000 m developed and allowed him to win a bronze at the 1996 World Sprint Championships. A week later, he bettered the World Record in the 1000 m and the sprint combination. He was expected to win the sprint title in 1997, but fell in his first race. Horii did win the remaining three distances, and later gained revenge by winning the 500 m gold at the World Single Distance Championships. But after that, Horii had difficulty adapting to the clap skate that revolutionized the skating world next season, and could not medal at his home Olympics. Manabu Horii was never able to master the new equipment, and retired after the 2002 Olympics. Four years later he returned to the Olympics as a speed skating commentator for NHK; in 2008 he was elected to the Japanese parliament for the Liberal Democrats.

Personal Bests: 500 – 34.90 (2001); 1000 – 1:09.23 (2002); 1500 – 1:52.22 (2001); 5000 – 8:36.06 (1990).