Smiling and pumping their fists (from left) Park24 Judo Club Women’s Coach Sonoda, Abe Uta, Sone, Abe Hajime, Hashimoto, Wolf Aaron, Park24 Judo Club General Manager Yoshida, and Park24 Judo Club Men’s Coach Ebinuma (Photo by Gunji Osamu)
Photo by Sponichi
Park24, a strong corporate judo team, held a send-off party for the Paris Olympics at its headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo, on the 5th, with five representative athletes in attendance. General manager Hidehiko Yoshida, who competed in three Olympic Games, including winning a gold medal at Barcelona in 1992, encouraged the team, saying, “I hope that all five of you will win gold medals and come back to Park24.”
The person who sent the warmest cheers was Soichi Hashimoto, the oldest Japanese male judo player ever, who will be competing for the first time at 32 years old and weighing 73 kg. “Five of us will be competing in the Paris Olympics, and four of them will be trying to win for the second time in a row. There is no other judo club like this. But that doesn’t mean I’m saying Soichi is no good,” he said. He continued, “I’ve been with the company for 10 years, and I’ll be 33 this year (August). I also participated in the Olympics when I was 31, but people around me called me an old man. He’s great because he surpassed that. I think the results of his hard work have led to the Olympics,” he said, drawing applause from the employees gathered at the venue.
In the 73kg class, Shohei Ohno, who is in the same year as Hashimoto, has long reigned supreme and won the Olympics for two consecutive years. When he was presented with a bouquet, an employee who joined the company in 2014 cheered him on, saying, “We’re all looking forward to it. Do your best!” The star in his 30s has a charm that the other four athletes, including the Abe siblings, who are aiming for their second consecutive victory, do not have. Hashimoto, with tears in his eyes, also looked up and said, “I’ve been with the company for 11 years, and I’ve grown at this company. I want to approach the Olympics as the culmination of my judo career, and with a feeling of gratitude.”
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2024-06-05 15:14:02
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