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Head of Main Sponsor Responds to AGU Coach Hara's Criticism of Teams Choosing Not to Run New Ekiden


ABC Television president Toshiaki Imamura, 62, held a press conference in Osaka on Jan. 24. There he talked about the new Expo Ekiden 2025 to be held in Osaka on Mar. 16, saying it was, "The first-ever showdown between the top corporate league and university teams."

9 teams from among the top placers at the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships including winner Asahi Kasei and last year's national champ Toyota are scheduled to race, along with the top 8 from November's National University Ekiden and one Kansai Region Collegiate Select Team. The field of 18 teams will start at Expo Memorial Park in Suita, Osaka, site of the 1970 World Expo, and cover roughly 55 km in 7 legs to the finish at Yumeshima, Osaka.

At the same time, Susumu Hara, head coach of this year's Hakone Ekiden winning team Aoyama Gakuin University, voiced public criticism, saying, "This is a serious race between the two leagues, and some of the top corporate teams aren't running it. Especially Honda. Why aren't they taking part?" Imamura responded to Hara's complaining, saying, "We made an offer, but they are free to choose whether or not to participate. We don't know why they've chosen not to."


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