Ikuto Yufu was one of the stars of Komazawa University's strongest lineup ever, helping lead the team to top 3 finishes in 11 of the 12 Big Three University Ekidens he ran his 4 years at Komazawa including 3-straight National University Ekiden Championships titles from 2011 to 2013 and overall course records at both Nationals and the Izumo Ekiden. He was undefeated on the Nationals Third Stage, winning it all 4 years and breaking its stage record twice. He showed exceptional range outside the ekiden, winning the National University Track and Field Championships 1500 m title in 2013 and setting Komazawa records for 1500 m, 5000 m, and 10000 m. In his final university race JRN took Yufu to the 2014 NYC Half, where he outkicked the great Meb Keflezighi to finish 9th in 1:02:51.
After graduating in 2014 he joined the Fujitsu corporate team but immediately began to have Achilles tendon trouble. His first two corporate league seasons were mostly a wash, one brief bright spot coming in early 2016 when he took 2nd on his stage at the New Year Ekiden and then won the Karatsu 10-Miler in what was a world-leding time for several months. But after that his Achilles problems worsened again, and Yufu faded off the radar. On Sept. 5 Fujitsu announced that he was retiring at age 27. The official announcement and Yufu's comments:
As reported on our official website, Ikuto Yufu retired from our team last month. A longtime active team member, Yufu would like to deliver this message to everyone who has cheered for him over the years:
Thank you all for your support over the four and a half years since I joined this team in 2014. My chronic Achilles tendon pain simply will not heal, and as a result I've been forced to make the decision to retire. Personally I think my run on the 2016 New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage was the highlight of my time here. I was only 2nd on the stage but I think it was when I came closest to running up to my ability.
It was thanks to the many people I've met in my career as an athlete and to their support that I was able to continue this long. Even when things were down and I couldn't do the kind of running I envisioned, a lot of people took the time to talk to me and that gave me the motivation and strength to keep going forward.
In the future I will continue to work at Fujitsu. I hope to make the most of the lessons I learned in my life as an athlete and to apply that knowledge to contributing to the company's success.
source article:
http://sports.jp.fujitsu.com/blog/f-trackfield/archives/8660
translated by Brett Larner
Hakone Ekiden photo © 2014 Kazuyuki Sugimatsu, all rights reserved
NYC Half photo © 2013 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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