Keywords for Tokyo "Believe in Growth and Evolution" Masayo Imura HC Jan 23, 15:41

Masayo Imura, head coach of Japan's Artistic Swimming team at the Tokyo Olympics. We asked the head coach Imura, who has raised Japan and China to be powerful and have won medals, the key to winning Japanese medals at the Tokyo Olympics. (* Titles are omitted below)

"Keep players growing for the last second"
This is a keyword for the Tokyo Olympics, which Imura himself wrote during an interview last April.
Now that the Olympics have arrived, when I showed this board anew, she smiled bitterly, "Was I wrote it before the World Championship?

The reason for bitter smile

The World Championship last July, which was the preparatory battle for the Olympics.
Japan was facing changing world trends.

Overseas players who had tall and large players and put power and speed in the forefront were hitting high scores.
From "Synchronized swimming" to "Artistic swimming". Not only the name, but also the way of showing the performance and the tendency of judging were changing.

In the team's free routine qualifying, Japan ranked 4th for lackluster performance.
Imura, who thought that the medals were tough, took an unusual action.

Things seen from the audience seats

Final two days after qualifying.
It was in the spectator seat that Imura, who should have sent players by the pool side, was originally. He tried to see for himself what the difference was from his rivals. He says it was his first experience in a long coach life spanning over 40 years.

"I can't go back to the Tokyo Olympics with a certain measure if I go back this way. I felt that if I just lost, I felt like that. It was a very big decision. "

Rival “Ukraine”

Imura's eyes were on the Ukrainian performance, which won the bronze medal.
He had never won a medal at the Olympics, and his performance did not seem so difficult.

However, the performance of the tall athlete, nearly one meter and eighty centimeters, at a tremendous speed and strong charm, was highly evaluated by the judges and greatly exceeded Japan's score.
Imura did not hide his surprise, saying "I expected more."

Japan's strengths

One of Japan. The lack of power was evident, but Imura also saw Japan's strengths.
It is a technique that matches acting, backed by strict practice.
It was something Japan had accumulated for many years.

"I wanted to realize that there is something good in Japan. You will see not only the badness but also the goodness. What was the goodness is that the technology is still certain. There's no one. "

Win is ...

How to add "power and speed", which can be said to be a global trend, to Japan's "technology".
Imura arrived at karate, a martial art from Japan.

A sharp technique that cuts through the air. Accurate movements that can't be beat.
I thought I could see the Tokyo medal ahead of drawing the karate world.

After returning to Japan from the World Championships, Imura will begin choreography with the theme of “Karate”. "I didn't want to just copy it," he said, studying a series of top karate players.
Athletes were trained for karate three times a week for two and a half hours a day.

"It's the speed of one movement, plus the persistence of it. It gives satisfaction to those who are watching at this or this speed. When they are perfectly aligned and perfectly aligned There is a chance to be born in Japan, "said Imura.

Until the power and speed unique to Japan can be embodied, thorough enhancement continues.

"Keyword" that does not change

In the artistic swimming of scoring competitions, it is said that not only the actual performance of the Olympics but also the performance of the tournament so far will affect the judging.
Japan was ranked 4th in the World Championships in the preparatory battle.
At the international tournament starting in April, he will perform “Karate” and a tough fight to overturn Japan's reputation will begin.
Only six months remain until the Olympics.
When asked the keyword again, Imura concluded strongly.

"I won't give up until the last minute. I believe that I can coach because I believe in their growth and evolution. This feeling has not changed at all."

(Interview: Sports News Department reporter Tsuyoshi Hashimoto)