Kazunori Asaba, chairman of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, said that he was "stepping up little by little", looking back on the result of winning two medals at the Tokyo Games and having seven winners from 4th to 8th place. I summarized it.
Forty-eight events were held for 10 days until the final day of the Tokyo 2020 Games, with Koki Ikeda winning a silver medal, Toshikazu Yamanishi winning a bronze medal and Japan winning two medals in the men's 20-kilometer racewalk.
In addition, Yuki Hashioka of the men's long jump is in 6th place, Suguru Osako of the men's marathon is in 6th place, and Nozomi Tanaka of 1500 meters in women is in 8th place. I did.
At the last Rio de Janeiro Games, there were two medals and two winners, and this year the number of winners has increased by five.
The Japan Association of Athletics Federations Chairman Asaba Strengthening Committee held an online press conference on the 8th, and commented on the results of this tournament, saying, "The number of prizewinners has increased a little since the previous tournament, so the results have come out. It's up. "
Among them, regarding the achievements of young players such as 21-year-old Tanaka and 19-year-old Ryuji Miura who won the 7th place in the men's 3000m steeplechase, "The training that has been promoted from the junior generation is bearing fruit. The fact that the players are growing up smoothly will lead to the future. "
On the other hand, the men's 400m relay, which had been aiming for the gold medal, was abstained due to the baton not being connected. It's important. "
He said, "I want to promote the flow of this tournament for the future world championships and the next Paris tournament."
Marathon manager "Conditions can be changed in one word"
In the marathon, Suguru Osako, a boy, finished 6th, and Mao Ichiyama, a girl, finished 8th.
Toshihiko Seko, the project leader of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations' Marathon Strengthening Strategy Project, aimed at the athletes, saying, "I think the six representative athletes have had a difficult day fighting the pressure so far."
In addition, regarding the men's marathon held on the 8th, he mentioned that the personal best of the Dutch player who won the silver medal was in the 2 hours and 6 minutes range so far. I felt that it would be good if we could train strong players. "
In addition, Japan Association of Athletics Federations Tadashi Kono, long-distance marathon director, complained that the venue for the marathon and racewalking was changed from Tokyo to Sapporo, and that the start time was moved forward by one hour the day before the women's marathon.
Director Kono said, "I accepted all the conditions without complaint, but it took years to prepare and it was not easy. I felt that it was vain to change it in one word."
On top of that, I expected in the future that "the fact that two people won a prize even in such a situation will lead to the next world championship and the Olympics."