Under the leadership of former men's 800 m national record holder Masato Yokota , 32, on June 22 the Virtual Distance Challenge - A Summer to Leave a Record of Your New Record , a new online competition in which junior high school and high school athletes from across the country can compete for free, was announced. As a result of the coronavirus crisis, both this summer's National Junior High School Championships and National High School Championships were canceled. "I wanted to make sure that our athletes who will carry on our sport in the future still have something to keep their fires burning today," said Yokota of his motivation to undertake a virtual event. Registration for the event opens July 20. Between Aug. 14 and 23 participants must upload times and videos of their performances, which will be ranked geographically and by other criteria. The videos are planned to be made available on Youtube. Along with Yokota, the event's staff include half mar...
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