Skip to main content

Rikkyo University Fires Head Coach Yuichiro Ueno Days Before Hakone Qualifier After Gossip Magazine Suggests Relationship With Female Team Member

On Oct. 11 Rikkyo University announced that it has suspended Yuichiro Ueno, 38, head coach of its men's ekiden team, as of the 10th. A statement from the university's public relations department stated, "His department has determined that he is unsuitable to serve as a leader."

Earlier on the 11th, the gossip magazine site Daily Shincho published an online article including a dozen photos suggesting that Ueno, who has been married since 2009 and has three children, was having an inappropriate relationship with a female member of the team. The PR department's statement said, "The university intends to consider disciplinary action after interviewing the parties involved, including the coach himself."

The Rikkyo team is scheduled to compete in Saturday's qualifying race for the prestigious 100th running of the Hakone Ekiden. Ueno will not attend. After hiring the highly popular former national champion at the end of 2018 specifically to rebuild its ekiden program in time to make the 100th Hakone in 2024, the school's 150th anniversary year, Ueno exceeded expectations for his success as a coach by placing 6th at last year's Hakone qualifier to make Japan's biggest race for the first time since 1968. Rikkyo was 20th on the first day and improved on the second day to take 18th overall. They are expected to be serious contenders to qualify on Saturday.

Update: On Oct. 12 it was reported that Ueno has been fired from the university. The university had ordered him to suspend his duties on Oct. 10, and he moved out of the team dorm in Niiza, Saitama. After a series of meetings on the 11th the university made the decision to fire Ueno due to the negative impact his actions and presence would have on the team, parents, admissions, the student body, and the university as a whole. A statement from the university said, "We deeply regret the current situation and will do everything possible to support our athletes so they can fully realize their potential at this weekend's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai. Our priority for the future will be the protection and proper care of our members and will do everything we can to give a careful and appropriate response." Executive manager Akio Harada, 68, or assistant coach Hideaki Hayashi, 44, are expected to fill in as head coach.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a
1 comment
Read more

10000 m National Championships Preview

  Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under
3 comments
Read more

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

  For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading
1 comment
Read more