After placing 6th in the 1500 m final at the Cali 2022 World U20 Championships , a Japanese high school girl is set to go to university in the U.S.A. in pursuit of becoming globally competitive. Initially reluctant to go abroad for school due to the changes in living conditions and high level of competition, she took inspiration from others who are active internationally and decided to take the plunge. The athlete is Yuya Sawada , 17, a 3rd-year at Hamamatsu Shiritsu H.S. At last summer's National Championships she was the only female high schooler to make the 1500 m final, and now she hopes to follow NR holder Nozomi Tanaka in making it to the final in a major championships 1500 m. Sawada was inspired to begin running her third year of junior high school. She had been a member of her school's basketball team, but after quitting the team the summer of her third year she ran in a local ekiden in Shizuoka. With a strong performance she helped her team win. The next year she w...
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