Masumi Aya and
Masato Naito set national records
K. Ken Nakamura
for the IAAF
Two Japanese national records were set in the 56th annual national games, which were held in Rifu near the northern metropolis of Sendai. Both records were set by young, upcoming athletes with a lot of promise. First on October 16, twenty-one years old Masumi Aya improved her national hammer throw record by exactly 2m to 64.43m. It was her third national record of the year for Aya, having recorded 62.13m and 62.43m previously.
The following day, Masato Naito who is also twenty-one years old set a national 110mH record of 13.50, eclipsing the previous national record, 13.55, by Satoru Tanigawa.
When Masumi Aya was a freshman in high school, track coach noticed Aya’s talent for throwing. Thus Aya started as a Javelin thrower in high school track team, but she also threw hammer part time. As a Javelin thrower, Aya never qualified for the national inter-high school championships. Her best finish at the national level as a Javelin thrower was her eighth place finish at the 1997 national games. In the same year, after watching Koji Murofushi compete at the World Championships in Athens, Aya felt that the hammer throw was better suited for her. Fortunately when she finished fifteenth at the hammer throw in the 1997 national championships, Shigenobu Murofushi recruited her to Chukyo University, where he coaches. Chukyo University is the best environment for hammer throwers in Japan, for Koji Murofushi, a World silver medallist trains there. Under the guidance of Shigenobu Murofushi Aya made a steady progress in college. In her freshman year, Aya threw 50.30m, an improvement of nearly 10m from her high school best of 40.34m. In subsequent years, she improved to 54.59m in the second year, and then to 58.87m in her junior year. But that was only a prelude to what was in store for 2001, her major breakthrough year.
First, on April 7, she recorded her first 60m throw (60.96m). Then on May 3 in Shizuoka, she relegated national record holder Aya Suzuki to the second place. For Suzuki, it was her first defeat by Japanese in 14 years. Now, Masumi was on a roll. Following month, she won the national championships with a national record of 62.13m, thus won a spot for the World Championships team. However, at the World Championships in Edmonton, Aya did not come close to her personal best. Aya who said, “ I was able to maintain good shape for the World Championships, but when I entered the throwing circle, I panicked,” failed to advance to the final in the women’s hammer throw. However, on the very first meet after returning to Japan, on August 18 in Marugame, Aya improved her own national record to 62.43m.
In Rifu, Aya started with 60.44m in her first throw. After the competition Aya told Tatsuo Terada,”Because I was short on training during last several weeks, I was bit concerned before the first throw. But after surpassing 60m in my first throw, I went for it in the second attempt.” Aya uncorked a massive 64.43m throw in her second attempt. “This coming winter, I want to concentrate on strength training. I would like to average 64m throw next, and that is a step to even bigger throws next year,” concluded Masumi Aya.
Masato Naito has always been near the top of his age group at the 110mH. However, he had a history of finishing second or third in important championships. In the national inter-high school championships, Naito finished fourth and second in junior and senior years respectively. In the national junior championships, Naito finished second twice. Last year, he was third in the inter-collegiate championships. But it all changed in 2001.
Like Aya, Naito who runs for Hosei University trains in a good environment also. He is coached by Shunji Karube, one time national record holder at the 400mH. Dai Tamesue, a Worlds bronze medallist at 400mH also runs for Hosei. During the winter of 2000-2001, Naito concentrated less on hurdle workouts and more on long sprint workouts, sometimes extending beyond 250m. It gave him the strength to finish the race strongly. Naito told Track & Field Magazine of Japan, “My hurdling technique is still imperfect. I have lot to improve. But because I think the sprinting ability is also quite important in hurdling, I spent much of the time in sprint training until March.”
It all paid handsome dividends this season. First, in Oda meet in April, Naito improved his personal best to 13.84. Then, after recording 13.77 in the semi-final of the district collegiate championships, Naito recorded the national collegiate record of 13.69 in the final. A month later in the national championships, Naito set another national collegiate record of 13.65 as he won his first national championships. He was selected for the World Championships team.
In Edmonton, Naito recorded 13.73 in the semi-final. Naito, who said “It was quite different from domestic competition,” learned a lot in his first major international competition. After returning from Edmonton, Naito competed in the World University Games in Beijing. Although Naito advanced to the final in Beijing, he failed to finish the race after colliding with the hurdler in the adjacent lane.
After returning from Beijing, Naito recorded his third collegiate record, 13.62, in the super track & field meet in Yokohama, when he finished fourth behind Anier Garcia, Allen Johnson, and Colin Jackson. His next race was at the inter-collegiate championships in the national stadium in Tokyo. In the race, which was run into the wind, Naito dominated completely, winning the championship by 0.42 seconds in 13.67.
Finally in the national games (competitions between prefectures), Naito recorded a national record of 13.50. After the race, Naito told Tatsuo Terada, “As a member of (my native) Aichi prefecture team, I was mainly concentrating on winning. The record came as a result. In the previous years, I finished second and third, so I am happy to win it for my home town.”
“My personal best coming into this year was 13.85, but this year I recorded faster times in most of my races. I am not sure what are the differences between the last year and this year, but next year, I would like to run 13.3,” concluded Naito, who is hoping to became a real world class high hurdler.
