Skip to main content

Ogata Promises Medal to Hometown Supporters

http://mainichi.jp/area/hiroshima/news/20080710ddlk34050608000c.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080709-00000034-nks_fl-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Beijing Olympics men`s marathon runner Tsuyoshi Ogata (35, Team Chugoku Denryoku) gave a speech at the Kumanomachi Civic Sports Center in his hometown of Kumanomachi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 9th. The 2005 Helsinki World Championships marathon bronze medalist told the crowd of 574 supporters, "All of my training has been with the single thought of `Let's get a medal.` If I get there feeling my best then I have a chance."

The event included a performance by the popular group Moebius of a song they had written to show their support for Ogata. Kumano High School 1st-year student Yuki Nidan (16) spoke on behalf of the school`s track and field team, saying, "We`re all waiting for you to bring the best-colored of all the medals back here." Kumano Junior High School 3rd-year student Yoshin Maeda (15) likewise gave a speech on behalf of his team, telling Ogata, "We always get courage and motivation from watching your running. When we think of you we all want to be the best in the country."

Ogata thanked the crowd, telling them, "It means a great deal to me to have so many people here supporting me. There is a month and a half left until the Olympics, and I will practice as hard as I can in the time I have left." He discussed some of the difficulties he faces as an elite marathoner and shed further light on his preparations while taking questions from the audience. Responding to the question, "How do you plan to deal with the heat?" Ogata said, "I`m not using my air conditioner at home so that I can get used to being sweaty."

Ogata left for training in Abashiri, Hokkaido on July 10th. Later this month he will travel to Beijing for his third test-run of the Olympic marathon course, followed by his final preparations for the main event on August 24th.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive