Skip to main content

85% of Athletes Targeting Tokyo Paralympics Unable to Train at Usual Facilities

A study by a sports governing body has found that 85% of athletes in track and field targeting the Tokyo Paralympics are currently unable to train at their usual facilities as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis.

Amid the closure of training facilities and government calls for self-restraint after its declaration of a state of emergency, the Japan Para Athletics Federation conducted a survey of 37 designated Paralympic team contenders and 12 developmental athletes for the two weeks leading up to Apr. 25. With regard to training facilities, over 85% of the athletes reported being unable to use their normal training bases. More than half also said that they had been unable to secure alternative facilities and that this had significantly impacted their training volume and quality.

Although many of the athletes are training from home and using nearby roads and steps, many reported having to reduce their training time and frequency in order to avoid irritating their neighbors and to reduce contact with others. Asked whether they are experiencing psychological strain such as feelings of anxiety or impatience with the situation, over 85% of the athletes already named to the Tokyo Paralympic team responded no, while more than 50% of athletes yet to qualify for the team responded yes. Federation officials believe that the psychological impact is greater on athletes yet to secure places on the team due to the difficulty of setting goals while the future qualification calendar is uncertain.

The survey also found that six athletes who use prostheses have faced additional challenges due to issues such as being unable to go to the manufacturers' facilities for custom tuning, and delays and other problems with importing replacement parts. Japan Para Athletics Federation high performance committee chair Tatsuru Ibusuki commented, "This is a time when all athletes must endure, but I believe that a time is coming when we will need the strength of our para athletes who have already survived grave threats to their lives. Until then, I hope that they will keep doing whatever they can."

source articles:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200507/k10012420631000.html
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'CAS Clears Japan’s Olympic Silver Medallist Ikeda of Doping, Overturns Ban'

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/10/23/cas-clears-japans-olympic-silver-medallist-ikeda-of-doping-overturns-ban The AIU's missteps in this case cost Tokyo Olympics and Oregon World Championships 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda , a Toyo University graduate who competes for the Asahi Kasei corporate team, the chance to represent Japan at a home soil World Championships last year. It is almost unheard of for an athlete to successfully fight a biological passport suspension as Ikeda did, making this a highly significant case. The CAS' press release about its decision stated: "The Panel stressed that the Athlete did not merely assert his position on the ABP abnormalities but adduced very extensive evidence in support of his explanations. In this highly complex case, the evidence brought during the CAS proceedings was far more abundant and specific than during the first instance proceedings with the WA Disciplinary Tribunal, implying the CAS Panel had further ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title

The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai. 12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura . In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out fr...
1 comment
Read more

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...
8 comments
Read more