Paris Olympics: Single-Digit Gold Medal Expectations Amid Judo’s Struggles and Swimming Discord

On February 5th, the Japan Table Tennis Association announced the eagerly anticipated “Tokyo Olympics Japanese Representatives.” In the women’s team event, following the previous selections of Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano, who had already secured their spots for singles, Miwa Harimoto was nominated for the third slot, marking a series of selections being reported for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in summer.

 

The memorable scenes of the Tokyo Olympics, which garnered a record-breaking 58 medals, come to mind. However, surprisingly among insiders,

“This summer is going to be very tough.”

voices began to emerge.

“Given the hosting of the Olympics in their home country during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant advantages in terms of support, as well as accommodation, transportation, meals, and training facilities. First and foremost, the focus seems to be on how many gold medals they can secure in gymnastics, judo, swimming, and wrestling, which are considered their traditional strongholds.” (Sports newspaper journalist)

At the Tokyo Olympics, Japan won 28 gold medals, second only to the U.S. and China, which are the sporting powerhouses of the world, and “Kimigayo” was played 18 times in the four events alone.

Looking at the contenders who have already secured their tickets to the Paris Olympics, the potential gold medalists include: in men’s gymnastics, Daiki Hashimoto, aiming for consecutive victories in the individual all-around and horizontal bar events; in judo, Hifumi Abe and Uta Abe, competing in the men’s 66kg and women’s 52kg categories respectively; in women’s judo, there’s Natsumi Tsunoda, who has won three consecutive world championships in the 48kg category; in women’s wrestling, Yui Susaki, aiming for consecutive Olympic victories in the 50kg category, and Akari Fujinami, who holds a streak of 127 wins in the 53kg category.

“However, while Hashimoto achieved his historic fourth consecutive victory and won three golds at the World Championships in October, the other four spots remain undecided, making it challenging to maintain the medal rush. Judo, which won a total of nine gold medals for both men and women, may face tough competition from the energized French team as Paris hosts the Olympics for the first time in 100 years.

Moreover, we suffered a resounding defeat in the new mixed-gender event introduced at the Tokyo Olympics. In wrestling, both Yukako Kawai and Takuto Otoguro, who were aiming for consecutive Olympic victories, were defeated in the December All-Japan Championships, resulting in their Olympic dreams being shattered. With the remarkable improvement in the level of international competition across all three disciplines, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a significant decrease in gold medals compared to the previous Olympics.” (Same sports newspaper journalist as before)

Of course, there are still numerous medal contenders. These are formidable athletes who have triumphed in fiercely competitive domestic qualifiers akin to the Olympics themselves. It’s exciting to see how they perform in the actual competition. However, there are concerns regarding the swimming team.

In July 2023, at the World Championships held in their home city of Fukuoka, the swimming team suffered a major setback with only two bronze medals, leading to reports in August of a crisis of division within Japanese swimming.

“The disagreement within the team, triggered by the selection of relay team members, escalated into a visible conflict due to differences in opinions. Not only were complaints voiced by athletes about feeling like ‘athletes are no longer the priority,’ but it was also evident that advice from Japan’s head coach for the Olympics, Takamasa Hirai, regarding team management and proposed strengthening plans, were not being accepted, leading to confusion.” (Sports newspaper desk)

In August, a meeting was held in Tokyo with Ryosuke Irie, the team captain, and other key players along with the staff. Simultaneously, the project was disbanded, and it was revealed that Coach Hirai had been relieved of his position.

“The internal discord just a year before the Paris Olympics was painful. The departure of Coach Hirai, who nurtured athletes like Kosuke Kitajima and Yui Ohashi, who won two golds in medley events at the Tokyo Olympics, also had a significant impact.” (Same sports newspaper desk)

On November 8, the Japan Aquatics Federation announced the selection criteria for the Japanese swimming team for the Paris Olympics.

“At the selection trials in March 2024, it was decided that the qualifying times required for Olympic representation would be based on stricter individual standards than those applied at the World Championships in July (Fukuoka). For individual events, the top two athletes who surpassed the qualifying standard in the finals would be selected.

In response, a petition was submitted by some coaches advocating for the selection criteria to be based on Olympic qualifying times. However, President Daichi Suzuki emphasized the importance of setting high standards for past Olympics as well, which has pushed athletes to strive to surpass them. It’s crucial to compete with high goals.’ In this scenario, Hikaru Honda, the new ace from the men’s 200-meter butterfly silver medalist list at the Tokyo Olympics, becomes a key figure. It’s a precarious situation whether not only Yui Ohashi, aiming for consecutive victories, but also Rikako Ikee and Daiya Seto, will be able to compete on the Olympic stage.” (Same sports newspaper journalist)

Will Japan be able to show the pride of the former host nation in Paris?