Suzuki wins the 50km race for men on the ground Strict strategy behind the gold medal September 29, 14:02

Yusuke Suzuki won the 50 km race for men's world championships held in Qatar and was selected as the representative of the Tokyo Olympics. Is it 20 kilometers or 50 kilometers? Behind the conflict, Japan's first gold medal was behind the thorough heat countermeasures and a calm race strategy that the Japanese national team has put its effort into.

Suzuki, who won the gold medal at the men ’s walk 50km of the world championship on land. In spite of the midnight race from midnight, he continued his “single trip” on the sidelines of the powerful players dropping off one after another under the harsh conditions of 31 ° C and 74% humidity.

During the race, the measure against heat was thorough. I had ice in my hand, cooled my neck, and I wore a hat in the middle of the night without sunlight to cool my head with ice.

And every time I passed the watering point, I drank two drinks, covered the water from my head, and took out another ice from the other bag and got it again.

The busy state was outstanding. This thorough "heat countermeasure". This was something that the Japanese team of the Japanese Athletics Federation walked for many years.

A team that conducts scientific analysis in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, which is expected to be a “hot weather” at the Japanese national camp, analyzes the body weight before and after practice, as well as changes in body temperature, sweat volume and ingredients, etc. I was looking for heat countermeasures such as high.

These measures came to fruition with last year's Asian tournament held in hot and humid Indonesian Jakarta, which could be called “virtual Tokyo”. .

The other is a cool race strategy. At the end of 40 kilometers, Suzuki stopped repeatedly at the water supply point and greatly reduced his walking speed.

Although the time difference with the 2nd place player was about 2 minutes, it is difficult to think of it normally. Suzuki recalled that this was “strategy”.

`` I had a symptom like dehydration and it was hard to drink while walking '' and in the ultimate situation the calmness of executing the strategy of slowing down and recovering physical strength shined, and the appearance of regaining speed is impressive did.

Suzuki made an amazing statement at the press conference after the race.

He expressed his intention to challenge again to 20 km, saying, “I want to be a representative even at 20 km, which has a world record.”

"The biggest goal is to become a global legend for racewalking." The “top” for Suzuki seems to be ahead even if he achieved the first gold medal in Japan.