Skip to main content

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Favorable Toward Survival of Track at Olympic Stadium



Speaking on Sept. 7 regarding the future uses of the New National Stadium built for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Koichi Hagiuda indicated he is favorable toward the survival of the stadium's athletics track. In comments following a Cabinet meeting, Hagiuda said, "I think maintaining and using it in its current form as part of the Games' legacy would gain the most approval from the general public. We need to immediately discuss the question of whether a massive amount of money should be spent to convert the stadium to be used exclusively for ball sports."

In 2017 the government had made the decision to remove the track following the Olympics and Paralympics and to dedicate the stadium to ball sports, but it now appears more likely that the stadium will continue to have dual use for both athletics and ball sports. Hagiuda had previously expressed support for the idea, saying last October, "One option is to leave the stadium as a facility that can be used for athletics in the future."

Translator's note: This is a separate issue from the future of the warmup track outside the stadium, built as a temporary facility but necessary for the stadium track to be used for any future major competitions and in-demand by the city's large running population who are currently locked out of the only public-use track facility in central Tokyo, Shibuya's Oda Field, through at least next March.

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Endo, Nishikawa and Yamakawa Announce Corporate Team Changes

The SG Holdings men's corporate team announced on Oct. 1 that long-distance athletes Hyuga Endo and Yuichiro Nishikawa have joined its roster after leaving the Sumitomo Denko team. Endo, 28, won the Junior Olympics 3000 m while at Koriyama Nishi J.H.S. before going on to Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. where he was the the top Japanese placer in the 5000 m at the National High School Championships 2 years in a row. After graduating from Gakuho Ishikawa he joined the Sumitomo Denko team, winning the National Championships 5000 m in 2021. He won gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and represented Japan at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. "I will give everything I have as part of the team and work hard toward helping it win the New Year Ekiden," he said of his new environment. Of his personal goals he said, "I want to focus on the 5000 m and reach new levels to compete internationally." Nishikawa, 28, was a member of Tokai University 's winning teams at the H...

3 Athletes Provisionally Suspended After Positive Drug Tests at Asian Games (updated)

The International Testing Agency announced on Oct. 2 that provisional suspensions have been imposed on two athletes, Kazakhstan's Aiana Bolatbekkyzy in track and field, and Tajikistan's Issamjon Sharifov in tennis, after they tested positive for prohibited substances at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Aichi. Bolatbekkyzy, 19, tested positive for the steroid drostanolone in a sample collected during an in-competition test at the Games. A diuretic drug was found in the sample collected from Sharifov, 23. Update:  On Oct. 3 a third athlete, kurash wrestler Yash Kumar Chauhan  of India, was provisionally suspended after an in-competition test detected the steroid metandienone, the metabolic modulator GW1516, and the stimulant mephentermine in his system. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20261002-X4FJLT5MMZKFND6WXPOESAKETQ/ translated by Brett Larner

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...