Skip to main content

Aoyama Gakuin's Kamino Planning Short Career Until Tokyo Olympics: "A Medal and Then I'm Done"

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1589175.html

translated by Brett Larner

Only four years until retirement!?  After helping Aoyama Gakuin University win its second-straight Hakone Ekiden title last weekend, captain Daichi Kamino said that he plans to retire early after medalling in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  On Jan. 7 Kamino took part in a celebration of Aoyama Gakuin's victory at its Aoyama campus.  Asked about his future plans as an athlete after moving on to the corporate leagues in April following his graduation, Kamino said, "I don't plan to do it for long."  Having wowed the nation with the university ekiden achievements that earned him the nickname, "Third God of the Mountain," the 22-year-old now aims to take a leading role in the marathon.

Short and sweet.  The lean Kamino is crystal-clear when it comes to goal-setting.  "With regard to my career as an athlete, I don't plan to do it for long," he said.  "I'm going to put everything I have into it, medal, and then I'm done."  There's no doubt he's aiming for the Tokyo Olympics, just four years away.  At that point he'll still be only 26 years old.  For someone who hasn't run a marathon yet that kind of talk seems premature, but there's no hesitation in his voice when he says, "A medal in Tokyo."

Translator's note: Dr. Helmut Winter, who developed the split timing system used by marathons including Dubai, London, Berlin, Chicago and Frankfurt and who has watched firsthand as multiple world and course records were set, described Kamino's 2015 Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage run by saying, "I have almost never seen such running as by Kamino on the Fifth Stage. World class!! I doubt whether there was another runner in the world who could have stayed with him on that day."

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