<figure id="attachment_444912" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-444912"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9c866e7f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/10/2e08665ee763f0023893b0e378fdae99.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-444912" class="wp-caption-text">Born in 1995 in Hyogo Prefecture. She began track and field in junior high school and won the national junior high school championship in hurdles in her third year. At age 30, this July, she recorded 12.71 seconds in the 100m hurdles. Her hobbies are watching anime and visiting cafés.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Life changed after the World Championships in Athletics</h2>
Beneath the flashy makeup, decorated nails, and sweet-and-spicy coordinated outfit lies a set of sharply defined abs. The contrast between her everyday life in Osaka and how she appears on the track is another part of her charm.
“I like baggy clothes and vintage T-shirts. During the season I can’t really go out much, so wearing something other than training gear helps me reset my mood. Dressing up, getting dolled up — it lets me enjoy a different version of myself from the one who’s always grinding through tough training.”
Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa Sports Facilities), who competes in the women’s 100m hurdles, has continued updating her personal best at age 30 and made her first appearance at the World Athletics Championships, held in Tokyo in September. The late-blooming new heroine drew attention when she struck a Demon Slayer pose during the athlete introductions just before her semifinal race, and after the championships, she signed a contract with U.S. sports brand Nike. She is likely the most talked-about female athlete in Japan right now.
“The World Championships changed my life. Surrounded by a full crowd, receiving cheers louder than anything I’ve ever experienced… saying it was memorable doesn’t do it justice — it felt like receiving a huge, beautiful flower.”
Raised in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, Nakajima initially joined the basketball club after entering junior high school, but later transferred to the track and field club. Perhaps because of the jumping ability she gained from basketball, she became Japan’s top hurdler in junior high and high school.
“But in university and as a working adult, I couldn’t produce results for a long time. The memory of being number one in Japan doesn’t fade easily, and I continued competing because I wanted to stand there again. When people now call me a ‘late bloomer,’ it really makes me realize how long I had disappeared from the spotlight (laughs).”
Track events can be brutally honest for athletes — your performance is reflected directly and visibly in your time.
“There are athletes in this world who are called early bloomers. But even at 30, if you put in the effort, you can still grow and break records — that’s what I wanted to prove.”
The &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; November 14/21 double issue (on sale October 31) and the paid digital edition FRIDAY GOLD go into detail about Nakajima’s new ambitions.
For more details and multiple photos, click below ↓
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From the November 14/21, 2025 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221;

 Yuji Yanagawa (nonfiction writer)

 Kei Kato

 Hitomi Nakajima, a women's 100m hurdler, is one of Japan's most popular athletes, having broken her own personal best this year at age 30 and also competing in the World Championships in Athletics for the first time in September. Here she shares her thoughts on being a "late bloomer.

 Hitomi Nakajima attracted a lot of attention when she competed in her first World Championships in Athletics at the age of 30! Late-blooming heroine of the women's 100m hurdles world

Hitomi Nakajima’s World Championships Debut Features Flashy Makeup and Sweet-and-Spicy Styling

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