The rowing and men's single sculls selection race for the Paris Olympics was held, and 29-year-old Ryuta Arakawa was selected to represent the team for the second consecutive Olympics.
As a result of last year's World Championships in rowing at the Paris Olympics, Japan had obtained one spot to compete in the men's single sculls, and the final selection race for that spot was held in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture on the 28th. I did.
Six people competed in the 2,000-meter race, and Arakawa took the lead from the beginning, widened the gap between him and the others after the middle, and finished in the lead with a time of 7 minutes, 6.19 seconds.
As a result, Arakawa was selected to be on the Olympic team for the second consecutive Olympic Games, following the Tokyo Games where he placed 11th.
Towards second consecutive Olympics
Ryuta Arakawa is a 29-year-old from Yokohama.
At the last Tokyo Olympics, he was the first Japanese athlete to compete in the men's single sculls since the 1996 Atlanta Games, finishing 11th.
He played basketball until high school, but when he entered Hitotsubashi University, he was recruited by the rowing club and began competing.
His specialty is his dynamic rowing, which takes advantage of his 1.85 cm tall physique.
He won a bronze medal in the men's single sculls at the 2018 Asian Games and a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games, his second consecutive medal.
Furthermore, he placed 8th in this event at the World Championships in September 2023, earning him one spot to compete in Japan, and now he has been selected to be on the Olympic team for the second consecutive Olympics.