Akito Watabe won't lie, he's no figure skating freak. And when someone asked him if he, not Yuzuru Hanyu, would have liked to have been the first Japanese gold medalist of the Pyeongchang Olympics, he just grinned.

But Watabe, who settled for a close silver in the Nordic combined normal hill 10-kilometer event, said Saturday he was in awe of Hanyu's gold medal-winning performance earlier in the day, that it was nothing short of inspiring.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not that interested in figure skating," Watabe said after three training jumps for Tuesday's large hill 10-km race.

"But the sport itself aside, Yuzuru Hanyu, watching him today, as an athlete is incredible. He was out four months, went straight into the Olympics and won it."

"It's phenomenal. (Silver medalist Shoma) Uno was great as well, getting the silver for a one-two."

In the normal hill 10 km, Watabe won his second successive silver medal following Sochi 2014, but again took a backseat to Germany's Eric Frenzel, who defended his title by 4.8 seconds.

Had Watabe won, he would have been Japan's first gold medalist in Pyeongchang, not Hanyu.

(Frenzel holds off Watabe in the normal hill event on Feb. 14)

Out for that elusive gold, Watabe has sworn to do better in the large hill 10 km. This season's World Cup leader spoke with bullet-proof confidence after practice Saturday, not paying attention to the competition and focusing on himself.

"Ideally, I want 40 seconds on someone who is really fast on his skis," Watabe said. "But I can't control how others jump nor the wind at this venue. All I can do is focus on my jumps."

"I haven't had many good jumps here. I think I've got much better jumps in me. The wind here can change in a heartbeat. I haven't caught a break yet here myself. Compared to the normal hill, it's tricky. Lots of factors could come into play."

"Not just the Germans, but everyone is starting to take it up a notch. But if I perform as well as I can, I should be up there. There's not a whole lot you can do at this point and no sense in worrying."

More on the Olympics:

Olympics: Back-to-back Olympic champ Hanyu's next goal is quad axel

Olympics: Kodaira vs Lee showdown highlights women's 500 speed skating

Olympics: Skiing snowboarder shocks Pyeongchang to win super-G gold