Japan risk becoming the first World Championships hosts to finish without a medal since Canada at Edmonton in 2001.
Japan risk becoming the first World Championships hosts to finish without a medal since Canada at Edmonton in 2001
OSAKA: Hosts Japan's track and field flops are a source of mystery to both the athletes and their coaches. After sprinter Shingo Suetsugu became the latest Japanese qualifying casualty in Tuesday's 200 metres, the team coach was left scratching his head.
Japan risk becoming the first World Championships hosts to finish without a medal since Canada failed to secure one in Edmonton in 2001.
"I guess you would have to say it is a mystery," team coach Susumu Takano said. "There's something wrong. You have to think there's something wrong with their conditioning."
Takano's extraordinary admission that home athletes had failed to prepare correctly for Osaka's sweltering heat came on the back of a string of poor performances.
Suetsugu took bronze in men's 200 metres at the 2003 World Championships in Paris but could find no reason for his failure to reach the 200m semifinals. "I feel bad I couldn't live up to expectations," shrugged Suetsugu, who left the track on a stretcher feeling dizzy. "I've got a headache."
Japan have failed across the board to live up to the hopes of the home fans. Dai Tamesue, bronze medallist in men's 400m hurdles at the last two Championships, also surprisingly bombed during the heats. Even Olympic champion Koji Murofushi slumped to sixth in men's hammer throw.
The last time Japan failed to win a medal at the Championships was in Gothenburg in 1995. The hosts have the chance to salvage pride in women's marathon on the final day when Reiko Tosa will be hoping to win the country's first gold since 1997. Hiromi Suzuki's marathon gold at the Athens Championships 10 years ago was won in similarly hot conditions but Takano called for the athletes to show more hunger.
"It's a fact that the conditions are extremely tough," he said. "But that's no excuse. They have to take a long hard look at themselves. They must get rid of any negative thoughts. They need to start producing."
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