TOKYO, July 27, 2007 - Japanese figure skating hopeful Nobunari Oda on Friday tearfully apologised for drunk driving as upset sport authorities pulled him off the ice for an upcoming show. :eek:
The 20-year-old skater drank two jugs of beer and a glass of spirits before going home on his motorbike Thursday evening in the western metropolis of Osaka, a police spokesman said.
Oda was stopped at a police checkpoint and found to have 0.3 milligrammes of alcohol per litre in his blood, the spokesman said, adding that he will have to pay penalties of up to 300,000 yen (2,500 dollars).
The incident was a top item on afternoon news shows, some of which called for him to be disciplined.
Oda hurriedly arranged a press conference.
``For the many people who have cheered me up and supported me … I am sorry,’’ he said before a horde of cameras as tears slid down his cheeks.
He was drinking at a sauna with a professor and others from Kansai University, where he studies.
``I thought I was already sober and drove without thinking,’’ Oda said, adding his mother usually picks him up when he drinks.
The legal limit for drivers is 0.15 in Japan.
Oda has been well known in Japan since 2005, when he won the bronze at the world junior championships in Canada. He also took home the Grand Prix title later that year at the NHK Trophy competition.
Oda is also famous as a direct descendant of 16th-century warlord Nobunaga Oda, one of the key figures who unified Japan after a long period of strife.
The Japan Skating Federation said it would remove Oda from an ice show scheduled for Saturday at which other stars, including teenage sensation Mao Asada, are set to perform.
The federation said it will also convene an ethics committee meeting to look at possible further punishment.
``Drunk driving is an unforgivable act for a member of society,’’ Masao Tsuneoka, secretary general of the federation, said in a statement.
Japan has been cracking down on drunk driving since a high-profile incident last year in which a drunk public official smashed into another car, killing three children.