In the men’s 5,000m, Japan national team members Mori Nagiya (Honda) and Sato Keita (Komazawa University) fought for the championship until the very end. However, behind the scenes, another Japanese-based runner was desperately trying to walk towards the finish line.
The result was 12th place. He finished at 14 minutes 18.52 seconds more than 50 seconds behind the leading group.
“We all knew they had the strength, but we were fighting on stage for the first time… they were all strong. This time, I think we lacked experience (for the first time as a senior representative), and we were nervous and lacked preparation.”
After finishing the run, when I asked him what he thought of the race he took on as a representative of Taiwan, he answered in fluent Japanese.
“I thought I had to run properly…but I couldn’t compete with Keita or Nagiya. I’m a bit sorry for Taiwan. I think this time it’s a failure.”
