Men's 50 km walk on land has started at the Tokyo Olympics and Sapporo City.
Pre-race weather conditions are 25 degrees Celsius and 86 percent humidity.
25 laps of a 2km course.
From Japan, three Japanese record holders, Masatora Kawano, Satoshi Maruo, who is second in Japan, and Hayato Katsuki, who won the Jakarta tournament three years ago, are participating.
We will keep you updated on the progress of the race.
[Race progress]
<Start>
At 5:30 am, the Men's 50 km Racewalking Race has begun.
[Attention here]
Masatora Kawano, Satoshi Maruo, and Hayato Katsuki, who will be competing from Japan, are all the first Olympics.
Hirooki Arai won the bronze medal at the last Rio de Janeiro Games in the men's 50km. It was a feat of being the first Olympic medal in the Japanese racewalking world.
Japan's ace Yusuke Suzuki has declined to represent the tournament as it is almost a month before the start of the tournament. Katsuki, who was a substitute, hurriedly joined the national team due to poor conditions caused by the "extreme heat" at the world championships where he won the gold medal.
However, in the latest world ranking, Maruo is in 3rd place and Kawano is in 5th place to aim for a medal. In addition, Katsuki won a gold medal in the heat and humidity at the 50km Asian Games held in Jakarta in August three years ago, showing his suitability for the heat.
In the venue, Sapporo City, the maximum temperature continues to be over 30 degrees Celsius every day, and the summer 50km race, which can last up to 4 hours, is a tough battle.
On the other hand, after the decision to hold the Tokyo Olympics, the Japan Association of Athletics Federations has been focusing on "heat countermeasures" for the actual race in midsummer.
Can Japan, which won the silver and bronze medals at the men's 20 kg on the 5th, make use of this momentum to make a name for itself in the history of 50 kg, the last of the tournament at the Olympic Games?
It is time to appeal to the world the "strongest" Japanese racewalkers in history.