(ATR) The last Asian multi-sport event before the Tokyo Olympics will offer a diverse number of Japanese athletes the chance to test their mettle against the continent’s best.
Japan will send 762 athletes to Jakarta and Palembang for the 2018 Asian Games. A Japanese Olympic Committee spokesperson told Around the Rings that Japanese athletes will compete in all sports except jet-skiing, although it will not "target peak performance to [any] specific sport".
That means Japan will be sending a diverse delegation filled with expected Olympians for Tokyo 2020, as well as some up and coming young athletes who need experience at high level events.
"This Asian Games is the last and biggest multi-sport event before Tokyo 2020," Takahiro Tomiyoshi, Public Affairs & Strategic Planning Department, at the JOC, told ATR."This is very important step and experience for athletes to 2020."
One example of the range of experience headed to Jakarta can be found in the Japanese swimming delegation. Kosuke Hagino won seven medals in Incheon, South Korea in the 2014 Asian Games before winning a gold, silver, and bronze at Rio 2016.
He will compete at Jakarta after competing at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. Joining Hagino in Jakarta will be Rikako Ikee, an 18-year old swimmer looking to medal at Tokyo 2020. Ikee won silver at the Pan Pacific Championships in the 200m freestyle, beating Katie Ledecky of the USA.
Japan won a silver medal at the 2018 International Table Tennis Team World Championships, and have nine athletes currently ranked in the top 16 of the men’s and women’s world tour. The JOC is taking the opportunity to send an "up and coming" team to Jakarta instead of established stars, Tomiyoshi said.
"JOC doesn’t target peak performance to specific sports," Tomiyoshi said of the country’s strategy. "Because we understand that some national federations need to send top athletes to other games to build up points or ranking for qualification of Tokyo 2020."
Japan’s delegation in Incheon will be dwarfed by China, hosts Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand. Each of the four countries is expected to send more than 800 athletes, with the hosts sending over 900.
The 2018 Asian Games will run from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, although the football and handball begin as early as Aug. 10. Nearly 11,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees, and some unified Korean teams, are expected to participate in 40 sports, making the event larger than the Olympic Games.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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