Interview:Tamesue provides critique of sports in Japan③

A three time Olympian,Tamasue starred in the 400-meter hurdles and still holds the Japan record in the event at 47.89 seconds.

Today is the last one for his 3 series of interview from "Japan Times" newspaper.

Last year I joined his seminor and read his book. I am sure he is one of the best opinion leader in sports in Japan.

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Interview

Japan times(J): Will the to-be-established Japanese college atheltics body(similar to the United States "NCAA")help solve those issues?

Tamesue(T):We need that kind of organizing body,but there are many unregulated organizations in Jpan.To organizing body needs really strong authority in order to unite and control them.One successful example here is J-League,which is given the authority to set regulations and deilver them to local clubs.

The Japan Sports Agency,the IOC, or the NCAA emphasizes"athletes first",but I think there are two aspects of the world.One is putting the priority on athletes whose goal is winning.

The other is caring about athletes` lives.You live a long time,and playing time is very limited.You have plenty of time and various other parts of life after retirement.Taking care of the athletes` lives after retirement is another concept of athletes first.

(J)It is difficult for athletes to find a job after retirement.How are they helped?

(T):I have been working on a project focused on supporting athletes in their second career.The athletes should have a vision of their own lives even before retirement.

They are in a better situation than other people because they have more time to think about the plans for their second careers.

You do not have to play your sport the whole day.You have time to spare because you only actually work out a few hours a day.It is important to use that time for your second career.If you spend 10 yeras doing nothing,you are to blame for the lost years.

I joined his seminor at "Number sports business college" hosted by Jun Ikeda, former president of YOKOHAMA DeNA professional baseball team.

And I got his name card. He runs sports related company.

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(J):In the U.S, for example,an athlete is encouraged to play multiple soports.What do you think about this?

(T):It is great. I think an athlete should do at least two or three sports.My junior high school teacher made me do throwing and jumping events as well as short track.That helped me improve my performance on the track.

Many athletes want to play multiple sports.But the sectionalism of each sport prevents thi from happening.A lot of coaches still believe athletes need to concentrate on one sport throughout the year to improve.

Japanese probably tend to put too much incentive on winning.The winner and winning coaches tend to be honored too much.We should pay more attention to the value of training athletes in the long term.

For example,take a school that often produces clubs or athletes that clinch national championships.Few Olympians come from this kind of school.The system to produce champions in three years is much different from the one to train Olympians in a 10-year program.

Training athlets over the long term should earn more credit in Japan.To let young kids do multiple sports helps them learn how various muscles move.The fundamentals help improve your peformance in your 20s when you reach the peak of your athletic ability.

This his name card in Japanese. I met him last April 27

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(J):What do you think Japan needs to do to protect athletes from harassment?

(T):One organization I think Japanese college sports shoud have is a players` association that encompassed all the sports.The athletes should be able to easily access it and get support or advice from the lawyers the players association hires.

If thre had been one,the Nihon Univ defensive player would have had a place where he could go for help, and the incident could have bee avoided.