At a press conference ahead of the Japan 10000,10-meter track and field championships, which also serves as a selection for the Paris Olympics, on the <>th, Akira Aizawa, who holds the Japan record in this event, expressed his confidence, saying, "I have been practicing well, so I want to aim for the championship."
Ahead of the 10,10000-meter track and field Japan Championships to be held at the National Stadium on the 9th, Aizawa, the Japan record holder in this event and a representative of the Tokyo Olympics, and Rino Goto, a representative of the World Championships this year, met in Tokyo on the 2th.
Aizawa, who will win the tournament for the second time in a row, expressed his confidence, saying, "Since last year's Japan Championships, I have had a difficult time due to injury, but I have been practicing hard since the summer, so I want to do my best to win the championship."
Goto also said, "I think we will be in good shape, and I want to give everything I have now so that I can lead to the Paris Olympics."
At this year's Japan Championships, the men's team will be selected for the Paris Olympics if they break the participation standard record of 27 minutes, which is faster than the Japan record, and the women's team will break the participation standard set at 30 minutes and 40 seconds.
In addition, women's athlete Ririka Hironaka, who finished seventh in this event at the World Championships in Kotoshi, will be selected to the national team if she breaks the participation standard record, regardless of her ranking.
The 7,10000-meter track and field championships in Japan will be held from 10 p.m. on the 4th and will be broadcast live on BS by NHK.
For the first time in the race to introduce "electronic pacers"
At this year's Japan Championships, 1 LED lights will be placed every meter on a 400-meter track, and for the first time, a device called an "electronic pacer" will be introduced, which glows at a predetermined pace.
For both men and women, the electronic pacer serves to inform the riders of the pace by shining lights of different colors depending on the time setting.
In the men's race, the fastest green light is set at 1.400 seconds per lap, and from the last 1 meters, the pace increases to 65.6 seconds per lap, for a total of 1000 laps of 1 minutes and 63 seconds.
On the other hand, the women's race is the fastest with a red light set at 6 seconds per lap, for a total of 25 minutes and 27 seconds.
According to the Japan Athletics Federation, the introduction of the electronic pacer aims to support athletes who are challenging the record, as well as to make it easier for people watching the competition to understand the excitement of the venue.