http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20090512k0000e050013000c.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090511085.html
http://www.kfb.co.jp/news/index.cgi?n=2009051212
translated and edited by Brett Larner
On May 11 the Japanese University Athletics Association announced the 30-member team for July's World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Among the young men and women on the team are a number of Beijing Olympians, among them 400 m runner Yuzo Kanemaru (Hosei Univ.), and sprinters Momoko Takahashi (Heisei Gakuin Univ.), Mitsuharu Abiko and Hitoshi Saito (both of Tsukuba Univ.). Racewalker Masumi Fuchise (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) will join the team as preparation for August's World Championships in Berlin, and popular Hakone Ekiden star Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) will lead the men's long distance track contingent in the 10000 m. Sota Hoshi (Komazawa Univ.) will be the top Japanese man in the half marathon.
National team head coach Mitsugi Ogata commented, "Our goal is 9 medals for the combined men's and women's teams. If we surprise people by achieving such a strong result it will give our World Championships team extra motivation to succeed."
Back home in Japan, most eyes will be upon the 'New God of the Mountain,' Kashiwabara. Kashiwabara became a national celebrity as a first-year with his stage-best run on the uphill 5th leg of this past January's Hakone Ekiden. As someone who never made even a national-level competition as a high school student, his nomination to the World University Games national team represents a great chance for Kashiwabara to make manifest his hidden gifts.
One of the secrets of Kashiwabara's ability is his inner strength, which gives him the confidence and fearlessness to frontrun against older, more experienced competitors. Nowhere has this been more evident in his career than at last month's Hyogo Relay Carnival where he qualified for the World University Games in the 10000 m. Running at the front of the lead pack, Kashiwabara overtook eventual winner Harun Njoroge (Team Komori Corp.) at halfway. "Since high school I've learned, 'Go before the going gets tough,'" said Kashiwabara of the move. Although he lost the lead to Njoroge at 7000 m, Kashiwabara hung on for 2nd overall in 28:20.99, a PB by 24 seconds. He was only 0.86 seconds behind the professional Kenyan. "Yeah, I guess that went about as expected," he said with a slight frown.
As in his other key races in his short career to date, another sign of Kashiwabara's power came in the twisting and rolling of his head and shoulders as he ran. "It's like his engine is too big for his body," commented a Rikuren official in amazement while watching Kashiwabara's breakaway during the second half of the race in Hyogo. A victim of severe anemia in high school, Kashiwabara never gave indication of what he held inside to most observers in those days. Not until the 2008 National Interprefectural Ekiden, where Kashiwabara defeated the nation's top high school stars to take the stage best title for his native Fukushima Prefecture team just before his own graduation from high school, did it become apparent what he might become.
As a first-year at Toyo University, Kashiwabara boldly predicted he would break the stage record on the Hakone Ekiden's most prestigious leg, the nearly 900 m elevation gain 5th stage. The mark, held by Juntendo University's 'God of the Mountain' Masato Imai, was popularly thought to be untouchable. Kashiwabara smashed Imai's record by a wide margin, catapaulting Toyo on to its first-ever Hakone win, earning the event's MVP title, and becoming a national celebrity. In March he went on to win his half marathon debut in the final running of the Kyoto City Half Marathon. Kashiwabara will race the best in the country over 10000 m at June's National Track and Field Championships in a bid to make the team for August's World Championships. If he succeeds it will be another major step up the ladder for this 19 year old.
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090511085.html
http://www.kfb.co.jp/news/index.cgi?n=2009051212
translated and edited by Brett Larner
On May 11 the Japanese University Athletics Association announced the 30-member team for July's World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Among the young men and women on the team are a number of Beijing Olympians, among them 400 m runner Yuzo Kanemaru (Hosei Univ.), and sprinters Momoko Takahashi (Heisei Gakuin Univ.), Mitsuharu Abiko and Hitoshi Saito (both of Tsukuba Univ.). Racewalker Masumi Fuchise (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) will join the team as preparation for August's World Championships in Berlin, and popular Hakone Ekiden star Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) will lead the men's long distance track contingent in the 10000 m. Sota Hoshi (Komazawa Univ.) will be the top Japanese man in the half marathon.
National team head coach Mitsugi Ogata commented, "Our goal is 9 medals for the combined men's and women's teams. If we surprise people by achieving such a strong result it will give our World Championships team extra motivation to succeed."
Back home in Japan, most eyes will be upon the 'New God of the Mountain,' Kashiwabara. Kashiwabara became a national celebrity as a first-year with his stage-best run on the uphill 5th leg of this past January's Hakone Ekiden. As someone who never made even a national-level competition as a high school student, his nomination to the World University Games national team represents a great chance for Kashiwabara to make manifest his hidden gifts.
One of the secrets of Kashiwabara's ability is his inner strength, which gives him the confidence and fearlessness to frontrun against older, more experienced competitors. Nowhere has this been more evident in his career than at last month's Hyogo Relay Carnival where he qualified for the World University Games in the 10000 m. Running at the front of the lead pack, Kashiwabara overtook eventual winner Harun Njoroge (Team Komori Corp.) at halfway. "Since high school I've learned, 'Go before the going gets tough,'" said Kashiwabara of the move. Although he lost the lead to Njoroge at 7000 m, Kashiwabara hung on for 2nd overall in 28:20.99, a PB by 24 seconds. He was only 0.86 seconds behind the professional Kenyan. "Yeah, I guess that went about as expected," he said with a slight frown.
As in his other key races in his short career to date, another sign of Kashiwabara's power came in the twisting and rolling of his head and shoulders as he ran. "It's like his engine is too big for his body," commented a Rikuren official in amazement while watching Kashiwabara's breakaway during the second half of the race in Hyogo. A victim of severe anemia in high school, Kashiwabara never gave indication of what he held inside to most observers in those days. Not until the 2008 National Interprefectural Ekiden, where Kashiwabara defeated the nation's top high school stars to take the stage best title for his native Fukushima Prefecture team just before his own graduation from high school, did it become apparent what he might become.
As a first-year at Toyo University, Kashiwabara boldly predicted he would break the stage record on the Hakone Ekiden's most prestigious leg, the nearly 900 m elevation gain 5th stage. The mark, held by Juntendo University's 'God of the Mountain' Masato Imai, was popularly thought to be untouchable. Kashiwabara smashed Imai's record by a wide margin, catapaulting Toyo on to its first-ever Hakone win, earning the event's MVP title, and becoming a national celebrity. In March he went on to win his half marathon debut in the final running of the Kyoto City Half Marathon. Kashiwabara will race the best in the country over 10000 m at June's National Track and Field Championships in a bid to make the team for August's World Championships. If he succeeds it will be another major step up the ladder for this 19 year old.
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