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It doesn’t appear so way back that the Olympics had been in Tokyo and now the Paris video games are on the horizon. That was made very obvious at this qualifying occasion in Tokyo on the finish of final month. October was one thing of a water sport particular for me with three occasions in eight days. First up was swimming on Sunday, that was adopted by water polo on Friday after which there was this slalom canoeing and kayaking occasion two days after that.
Really discovering out about these water sports activities happening actually did take one thing of a deep dive into my web search engine, and every day checks for extra info within the weeks constructing as much as the occasions yielded little or no. Finally although I managed to pay money for the schedule for this slalom occasion and a plan was made to attend the afternoon session.
Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre (6-1-1 Rinkaicho, Edogawa-ku) is lower than ten minutes on foot from Kasai-Rinkai Park station on the JR Keiyo Line however Google Maps didn’t take me the direct route. As an alternative, I entered by way of the safety gate for the automobile park the place I used to be allowed by way of by the guard however about 200 metres additional on it was obvious that I would even have been mistaken for a competitor as I used to be in an space I shouldn’t have been with out the suitable lanyard go round my neck. Perhaps they thought I used to be from Uzbekistan or someplace as this was an Olympic qualifying occasion for all of Asia. I used to be quickly ushered by way of to the proper space for spectators by a form workers member.
There was a sizeable crowd of round 2 hundred individuals (at a tough guess) in attendance on a heat and sunny afternoon at this venue which was constructed at a price of about seven billion yen ($64m) for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I actually did suppose I might need been the one particular person in attendace beforehand so was fairly shocked and relieved to search out out some others knew this was participating.
The ladies’s canoe finals had been first up simply after 1pm with 9 opponents together with a few Japanese females who had blended fortunes. Haruka Okazaki got here fourth while Ren Mishima got here final. China’s Juan Huang was the quickest with a complete time of 114.86 which I’m nonetheless a bit of confused however I suppose they don’t use minutes on this sport!
What quickly grew to become obvious on this 200 metre lengthy course was the talent wanted to do such a sport. There have been round 20 gates together with a couple of of them positioned up stream thus requiring a change of route and needing a variety of energy and talent to paddle towards the swift present.
The lads’s canoe finals adopted and included Japan’s Takuya Haneda who was essentially the most extensively supported of all of the opponents. He gained bronze at Rio 2016 changing into the primary Asian to win an olympic medal within the sport, and he got here out on prime on this qualifier with a reasonably faultless efficiency (nicely there have been no time penalties for him in any respect) clocking in with a time of 99.05.
The ladies’s kayaking was subsequent not that I might actually inform any distinction between this and canoeing! The group had dwindled a good bit by the point this occasion began however I caught round for a bit extra motion.
The lads’s kayaking finals adopted however I used to be glad with what I had seen and wanted to get again house anyway. Hopefully when Paris 2024 rolls round subsequent 12 months I’ll see one or two of those opponents on TV and if Takuya Haneda or whoever wins a medal for Japan I’ll little question be telling my college students that I watched them dwell at this occasion.
Bonus: While it’s not a water sport, it’s performed on ice which is principally frozen water isn’t it? This wasn’t my first ice hockey recreation as I noticed a double header of video games in Tokyo again in 2018 when 4 groups got here to play within the capital. Again then the closest staff to Tokyo was Nikko Ice Bucks from Tochigi Prefecture however since then a brand new and nearer staff has emerged as Yokohama Grits had been based in Might 2019. My good friend Daniel is a daily attendee at their house video games so I made a decision to affix him and his pals one afternoon as they confronted Korean opposition.
Click on right here to learn ‘A Double Dose Of Water Sports activities Motion At Tokyo Aquatics Centre’
Click on right here to learn ‘Reside Ice Hockey In Tokyo’
Click on right here to learn ‘What It’s Like To Be A Spectator At The Tokyo 2020 Olympics’
Click on right here to learn ‘Reignite Your Ardour For The Olympics At This Tokyo Museum’
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