Juntendo University Legendary Coach Sawaki Steps Down Amid Abuse Allegations After 4 Athletes Taken to Hospital - "This is the Way We've Always Done It"
Juntendo University is one of the true powers of the Hakone Ekiden, with 11 wins in 65 appearances and producing current 3000 mSC and 10000 m national record holders Ryuji Miura and Kazuya Shiojiri. But an investigation by the Weekly Shincho gossip rag has uncovered students' accusations of abuse and power harassment against a famed honorary head coach. The university administration has acknowledged that student athletes were put in danger and indicated that the coach in question would step away from any coaching duties.
The accused man is Keisuke Sawaki, 80, former head coach of the Juntendo track and field team and currently serving as a specially-appointed professor and honorary head coach at the university. A Juntendo alumnus and two-time Olympian who competed in long distance track events at both the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympics, as head coach Sawaki led Juntendo to 9 of its 11 Hakone victories. Those successes led to him serving at one point as executive director of the JAAF.
The specific incident in question happened June 26 this year at Juntendo's Sakura Campus in Inzai, Chiba. After failing to qualify for the National University Men's Ekiden, Sawaki called team members who had competed in the qualifying race together. One athlete who was present described the meeting, saying, "More than 10 of us were gathered together, and coach Sawaki told us, 'You're not going to make it to Hakone.' Then he suddenly ordered us all to go run 10,000 m. Since we were all in the middle of other training it was a really hard situation since we didn't have any warning and didn't have a chance to get ready for it."
The meeting took place just after 4:00 p.m. when it was still sweltering and humid. "The team manager tried to give people water," said the team member, "but coach Sawaki got really angry and shouted, 'Don't be so soft!' Some guys saw him make an X sign to them with his arms to stop them." After finishing, many of the athletes collapsed to the ground and some couldn't get up for several minutes. After getting back to the team dorm at least 4 runners showed symptoms of heat stroke and were taken to the hospital by ambulance. One was diagnosed with ligament damage, putting his chances of making Hakone in doubt.
After the incident, a letter making accusations against Sawaki was circulated on campus signed by "a victim and his friends." One section of the letter said, "I've seen many of my teammates, senior team members, and young coaching staff being beaten and kicked, but the only thing I could do was just run."
Asked directly for comment, Sawaki said, "This is the way we've always done it. I directed the ekiden coach to check each runner with a pulse oximeter before workouts and to immediately stop anyone who was lapped. If it was hot I would let them drink water, but that day was cool enough that I decided it was fine." When it was pointed out that multiple team members had collapsed he said, "Not that I saw. This is the first I'm hearing of it. I heard a few days later that there had been some mild incidents of heat stroke, but I just said, 'Oh, really,' and that was the end of it."
While Sawaki seemed to feel that there was no problem, the Juntendo University administration took a sterner view. "We take extraordinary care to ensure the safety of all our student athletes, and it is regrettable to learn that some of them have reported negative physical effects from this incident. We will continue to take direct oversight of student athlete safety. Additionally, Professor Sawaki will step down from any involvement with coaching the track and field team."
Forthcoming articles in Weekly Shincho will go deeper into Sawaki's abuse of power, including his daily acts of violence and abusive language against students and other faculty.
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translated and edited by Brett Larner
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