Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryu, and Yuki Koike took part in the Tokyo Olympics, men's 400m relay qualifying group, and Japan finished third with a time of 38.16 on the 6th. I advanced to the final.
Shuhei Tada "I was concentrating on looking only at my lane."
Shuhei Tada, who took the first run, recalled the race, saying, "I was only looking at my lane and concentrating on running. I ran looking at Mr. Yamagata without looking at the next lane."
Ryota Yamagata "The final is the best race for the whole team"
Ryota Yamagata, who played the second run, said, "Since the relay was the first run, I was wondering what would happen, but running one run made me feel better."
Regarding the baton pass, which Japan is good at, "I think it was a" safety baton "overall," he said, and each player was a cautious baton pass. I was enthusiastic about the final, which is expected to be, "I want to do my best because I want to do the best race as a team in the final."
Yoshihide Kiryu "Big Harvest"
Yoshihide Kiryu, who played the third race, missed out in an individual event and said that this was the first race of the tournament and "I think it was a big harvest to be able to run one without knowing the atmosphere yet."
Yuki Koike "I was able to run to some extent"
Yuki Koike, who acted as an anchor, said, "I was waiting calmly just looking at Kiryu. I think that the baton pass itself went well and I was able to run to some extent." I looked back.
Baton Pass Advantage Maximum Aim
Japan, which has been suffering from individual events this year, is the best member that can be considered at the moment, and has connected the baton of advancing to the finals following the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
From the first run in Japan, Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryu, and Yuki Koike have a lot of experience in the world championships, and the three of them are the best members who can think of the current situation in the 9 seconds range.
While the time of each player did not improve in the individual event of this tournament, it was a lineup that clearly showed the aim of maximizing the advantage of the baton pass that Japan had built up.
The first qualifying team that included Japan was a high-level team with a best time of 36.84 seconds, including Jamaica, which holds a world record, and all other teams with a time in the 37 seconds range.
Japan's 37.43 record was the third time, but there was a risk that a slight mistake could lead to a defeat.
While struggling in individual events continued, it was great that I got the response that I could do it by advancing to the final in this event, which had set the goal of gold medal, and the sprint team began to rebound to the final on the 6th. I did.