On the eve of the nine-day 14th IAAF World Championships Opening Ceremony in Moscow, Russia, two of Japan’s rising sprint stars Yoshihide Kiryu and Ryota Yamagata expressed their full support for the prospects of a 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Eager to break new ground by breaking the 10 second mark, the first by an Asian athlete, the two athletes represent a wave of young superstars emerging in Japan.
Sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu, 17, the second fastest short-distance runner in Japanese history, will compete in his first IAAF World Championships after clocking an unofficial 10.01 in April and finishing at the top of the 100m junior world rankings in 2013.
Kiryu is looking forward to the upcoming world championships and beyond to the Olympic Games: "Competing in a major event such as the IAAF World Championships will be an invaluable experience as I look to the future. Should Tokyo receive the honour of hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it would be the dream of a lifetime to inspire the world with a strong performance on my home turf."
Ryota Yamagata, Japan’s 21-year old up and coming sprinter is equally on competing in Tokyo for the 2020 Games: "I hope to put on a strong showing at the IAAF World Championships, so I can add further momentum to Tokyo’s Bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I will be in my prime during the 2020 Games, so it would be an amazing experience if I can run in front all my international friends in Japan, my home country."
IOC Member and President of both Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda said: "All of Japan is united as one cohesive team in the final weeks before selection of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Host City next month. A strong performance by our track and field athletes would demonstrate to the world Japan’s passion for sport, and surely give Tokyo 2020 a tremendous boost as we head towards the last sprint of the 2020 Bid race."
For more information contact:
Tokyo 2020 Press Office
Phone: 81-3-6279-0049 / Fax: 81-3-6279-0157 / pressoffice@tokyo2020.jp
Alternatively, please find us online at http://tokyo2020.jp/en/
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