Hooked on a ninth time, superfan Kyoko Ishikawa attends Paris Olympics

The Star

When she went to the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, Kyoko Ishikawa was just a student touring Europe. Now the 54-year-old deems herself a "superfan" and has not missed an edition of the Olympics since.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Kyoko Ishikawa has turned up for her ninth Olympic Games in Paris.

00:07The 54-year-old Japanese has not missed an edition of the Olympics

00:11since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

00:15She tours the world in traditional Japanese attire

00:18to relive the atmosphere of the world's biggest sporting event.

00:23She recalled that she was just a student touring Europe for the summer

00:27when she went to Barcelona.

00:29Actually at that time I realized that

00:31Barcelona Olympic Games was held in Barcelona during the summer.

00:37So I decided, OK, why not?

00:40I just wanted to go there.

00:43Then I went there and I realized that

00:46the Olympic Games energy in the town was awesome.

00:51It was totally like a melting pot

00:54and everyone was cheering and so energetic.

00:58And that was the first time that I experienced the energy of the Olympic Games.

01:04That hooked me.

01:06So the reason why I'm a super fan of the Olympic Games

01:10is of course watching the Olympic Games

01:13and also cheering for the Japan team.

01:16But the biggest main purpose for me to attend the Olympic Games

01:22are basically to meet and exchange,

01:26smile and friendship with people from around the world.

01:31Ishikawa said to afford the trip,

01:33she balanced her spending on premium seats

01:36and the more modest competition tickets.

01:39She bought the tickets to 21 events.

01:42She also works remotely from Paris,

01:44spending her morning on shift

01:46and her afternoon at the Olympic competitions.

01:49I was very lucky.

01:52In the first three days,

01:54I was able to win all the gold medals.

01:58In the second half,

02:00I'm not sure what's going to happen.

02:03When it comes to track and field,

02:05other countries are going to be stronger,

02:07such as Africa and the US.

02:10But in Japan, there are still urban competitions

02:15and wrestling.

02:18I want to do my best.

02:21For the first time in eight years,

02:24I'm able to meet people from around the world

02:28in a normal format like this.

02:32I'm happy to be able to meet everyone

02:35and take pictures and talk with them.

02:38I'm really happy to be back in this environment.

02:44After 32 years of supporting the Olympics,

02:47Ishikawa has no intention of stopping.

02:50She said she will continue to attend the Games

02:53as long as she can.

03:14For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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