Skip to main content

Haru Tsuburaya, A Relative of 1964 Olympic Marathon Bronze Medalist Kokichi Tsuburaya, Makes First Nationals


At the 68th Fukushima Prefecture Junior High School Track and Field Championships, Haru Tsuburaya won the boys' 800 m to qualify for his first National Junior High School Championships. Kokichi Tsuburaya, 1964 Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medalist and a native of Sukagawa, was the younger brother of Haru's great-grandfather. Haru admits that he "doesn't really know much" about his famed relative, but was enthusiastic about his own performance, saying, "I ran a PB of 1:59.43 at the Prefectural Championships, and I want to run about 1:56 at Nationals to go for the win."

Haru started running with the Kagamiishi Sports Club track team his first year of elementary school. In junior high he joined the basketball team in addition to running track. He started running the 800 m last fall, and even though he started off in only 2:07~09 range he trained steadily with the goal of making Nationals. As a result of that diligent training his times got better.

"My biggest strength is my last kick," he says proudly. With Nationals fast approaching, Haru says one thing he needs to work on is, "being able to start fast and sustain it without slowing down." Nationals start Aug. 17 in Okinawa, and to tune up for that he hopes to build momentum with a win at the Tohoku Region meet starting Aug. 6 in Fukushima.

People in Sukagawa involved with track and field look forward to Haru's success, recognizing his talent and seeing him as the successor to former 10000 m national record holder and 2021 Tokyo Olympian Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei), who was nicknamed "Kokichi Tsuburaya II." Haru cites 800 m NR holder and national champion Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) as his favorite athlete. Asked about the future, he says, "I want to work in a job involved with track and field."

source article:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
1 comment
Read more

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31
Post a Comment
Read more