Taio Kanai, who had advanced to the semi-finals as a Japanese athlete for the first time in 57 years at the 110m hurdles for men on land at the Tokyo Olympics and had announced his retirement from active duty only this season, participated in the final record meeting of active duty and broke up in the competition. I told you.
26-year-old Kanai, who holds the record of 13 seconds 16 seconds, which is the second place in Japan's history, advanced to the semi-finals for the first time in 57 years as a Japanese player at the 110-meter hurdles for men in the Tokyo Games, which was his first appearance in the Olympic Games.
Kanai has announced that he will retire from active duty only this season in order to become a dentist, and on the 9th, he participated in a record meeting held at Hosei University, his alma mater in Machida, Tokyo, as the last race of active duty.
Initially, I was planning to participate in two races, but considering the conditions, I narrowed it down to one, and after more than an hour and a half before the race, I made a careful improvement and stood on the starting line.
And in the race that I ran with the alumni of the university and juniors, I showed a long run from a sharp start and finished at the top with a time of 13 seconds 55 in a tailwind of 0.1 meters.
It was about 0 seconds 4 late from my personal best, but I showed a radiant look and finished the last race of active duty.
Kanai attended the retirement ceremony after the competition and expressed his gratitude with tears, saying, "Because there was a lot of support, I have the current achievements and time."
Kanai will become a dentist in the future, so he will start studying in earnest in preparation for the university entrance exam.
Taio Kanai said, "I have prepared to run without regrets for the final race. I concentrated on myself so as not to lose to my juniors, and I felt the loneliness that this was the last race after the race." talked.
In addition, I have spent all my time in the day trying to improve my 110-meter hurdles skills and time. It was the biggest for me. "
When asked about the most memorable race so far, he mentioned the Japan Championship, which broke the Japanese record at that time in 2018. I was deeply moved.
He was enthusiastic about his next goal of becoming a dentist, saying, "I've put everything into competition, but I want to do my best to study as well. I want to be a trusted dentist."