Dai Tamesue demonstrates the hurdles on the streets of Tokyo (© Keisuke Koito / KISHIMOTO)
Many of the athletes who competed at the recent IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Osaka, Japan (5 May), commented that the new track surface in the city’s Nagai stadium which will host this summer’s World Championships was super fast. While no records were threatened another track surface in Japan was also at the centre of attention recently.
Last Sunday (27) a temporary track was laid down on one of the main streets in the Japanese capital Tokyo, as a group of the country's top athletes gave up their time to help guide local children through some athletics disciplines.
The event was one of a myriad of promotions currently being staged to promote the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan (25 Aug to 2 Sep) to the Japanese public.
An audience of 2500 gathered in "Marunouchi" in front of Tokyo Station right in the heart of the city to experience athletics demonstrated close-up by two-time World 400m Hurdles medallist Dai Tamesue, sprinter and long jumper Nobuharu Asahara, and pole vaulter Takehito Ariki.
The experiment of bringing athletics to the people had already been successfully demonstrated in Japanese elementary schools, and for the purpose of this street initiative the road was covered by a track with a runway and the usual landing mat for the vault also assembled.
Chris Turner for the IAAF
