A Tokyo Olympian in the men's 100 m, Shuhei Tada (29, Sumitomo Denko) has announced that he is taking a break. Tada finished 7th in the 100 m at the Aug. 20 Twilight Games at Kanagawa's Nissan Stadium, running 10.32 (-0.3). After that race Tada said, "I was feeling tired. But some of the others who had been racing a lot still put in good times, so I think my lack of training after my injury last year is impacting me now."
Tada was unable to hit the 10.00 qualifying standard for September's Tokyo World Athletics Championships. "I'm going to take some time off and rest for a while until the day comes when there's a way forward."
In 2017 Tada ran a wind-aided 9.94, the first time a Japanese man broke 10 on Japanese soil. With his fast start he was an important part of Japan's bronze medal-winning 4x100 m relay teams at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.
Given the recent surge in the number of talented young athletes Tada said he found inspiration in his fellow veterans too. "Of course I'm happy to see the level going up, but to be honest 90% of the time I'm pretty frustrated. I think my generation, the group of us who came up in 2017, are still working hard. I'm really happy that Ryota Yamagata is back into the 10.0* times. It makes me want to keep going and giving it my best."
Looking forward Tada said, "Once I feel like I can look forward I'll get back to training. The World Championships will be in Beijing in 2 years, so that's something to aim for. I'm just tired now and need a break to refresh myself before I come back to it."
Comments