Mai Murakami was ranked 5th, the highest ever for a Japanese athlete, in the individual all-around of gymnastics girls held at the Tokyo Olympics on the 29th.

In the group, I was worried about the pressure of the captain, but in the all-around, I showed a relaxed performance with my own smile.

"Pressure" and "responsibility"

Murakami has participated in two consecutive tournaments since the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

In the group, I was appointed as the captain aiming for the podium that exceeds the previous 4th place, but asuka Teramoto, who has been leading the team as a captain for a long time, is one year older than the representative, and there is a lot of pressure. It was the Olympics that I felt responsible.



24-year-old Murakami is the first experience to represent the group, but he said, "I thought I should pull it by acting because I have Teramoto, but this time I can't do that." After the representative was decided, I practiced with the team first, such as calling out.



In the qualifying session on the 25th of the Tokyo Olympics, I was overwhelmed by the pressure of being a captain, and my face and body were stiff, so I couldn't make the most of my personality.


I couldn't make a convincing performance, such as making a falling mistake that I had hardly experienced with uneven bars.



In the qualifying, the all-around is 23rd.

Other members of the team also failed to switch their feelings after making a mistake and sometimes failed again, and the group was in 8th place, just before passing the qualifying.



In the group final on the 27th, Murakami focused on encouraging younger members rather than on his own performance.



On this day, the Japanese players were able to switch well, demonstrating their original strength, and with fewer failures, they made a good fight in 5th place, but Murakami made a mistake again with the uneven bars, and the performance was satisfactory. I could not do it.

With an unleashed "smile"

Before the final of the all-around on the 29th, the members pushed me back, saying, "Mr. Maai, please enjoy acting just for yourself today."

Murakami was released from the pressure of the captain of the group and smiled at the performance.


He showed a relaxed performance in the third event and passed through the last uneven bars without major mistakes.



The total score of the 4th event is 56.032. Murakami, who has aimed for 56 points in the 4th event with an average of 14 points in the 1st event, got the target score and became the 5th place of the Japanese player's record high in this event. ..

After the match, Murakami smiled, "I'm responsible for whatever I do, so I have nothing to lose and I've taken the plunge. I've decided that I really want to enjoy acting, so it was a lot of fun." I talked about it.



Murakami is still in the final of Yuka by event.

That Yuka marked 14.000 in the all-around on the 29th, and was the top scorer overall.



The final of Yuka, who has high expectations for medals, is August 2nd.