Akira Aizawa from Fukushima Prefecture was 17th in the men's 10000m final, which was the first event on the track and field of the Tokyo Olympics that started on the 30th.

Aizawa sprinted through the national stadium following the back of a player.

The late Kokichi Tsuburaya, who won the bronze medal of the marathon at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics last time and made a large crowd.

Following Tsuburaya's back, Akira Aizawa sprinted through the national stadium.



Aizawa's hometown, Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture, is the birthplace of Tsuburaya, and even now, marathon competitions are held to convey the achievements of Tsuburaya, and athletics are actively held.


Aizawa, who grew up there, took the first step as an athletics player at the athletics club "Tsuburaya Runners", which bears the name of Tsuburaya when he was a junior high school student, and grew into a national class runner.



The word that Aizawa cherishes is Tsuburaya's inscription "Patience."


At the Japan Championships in December last year, when he ran with these words in his heart, Aizawa won the overwhelming time of 27 minutes 18 seconds 75, breaking the Japanese record of 10,000 meters for more than 10 seconds.

Looking back,



"I feel a connection with this tournament,"



Aizawa and Tsuburaya have a number of things in common.


In fact, Tsuburaya won the 6th place in the last Tokyo Olympics, not only in the marathon but also in the same 10,000 meters as Aizawa.

In addition, because the tournament was postponed for one year, Aizawa and Tsuburaya will enter the tournament at the age of 24.

Furthermore, Tsuburaya, who cheered up Japan after the war, and Aizawa, who ran as a representative of Fukushima after the earthquake, share the same idea of ​​"reconstruction."



Inevitably, the locals and the surroundings also expected to be active like Tsuburaya, and Aizawa also enthusiastically entered this race with the goal of "Mr. Tsuburaya's goal of winning 6th place and giving him energy and courage."

And then, the 30th race.

Aizawa quietly joined hands, saying, "I carry the thoughts of various people," and then started.



Forming a group with Africans, they bite up to 7,000 meters in the final stage, but at the end they are keenly aware of the difference with the world.

I ended up in 17th place and didn't reach my goal, but what I felt was beyond patience.

"There were some tough scenes from the middle, but I was able to stick to 7,000 meters, so I think I was able to run with patience in that sense. However, if I just put up with it, it will not be a race to fight the world, so I will attack firmly. I want



to run. ”Aizawa, who

ran hard

at the national stadium 57 years after Tsuburaya.

When asked, "What do you want to tell the locals?", He answered as follows.



"I couldn't run as you expected, but I've done my best right now, so I think I was able to show a good run. I'll do my best to continue to support you."



Great Aizawa will continue to run, aiming for the future of his seniors.