![Men’s 400mH – Toyoda Kane: “I want to be a new role model and do both” – To compete in “an unusual two events” with the 110mH[Press conference the day before the Japan Championships]](https://i0.wp.com/newsdig.ismcdn.jp/mwimgs/e/3/1200w/img_e375279f5215d3d96061dbe0d7b088f095120.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Men’s 400mH – Toyoda Kane: “I want to be a new role model and do both” – To compete in “an unusual two events” with the 110mH[Press conference the day before the Japan Championships]")
The Japan Championships (27th-30th), which also serves as the final selection for the Paris Olympic team, will be held at the Denka Big Swan Stadium in Niigata City. On the 26th, at a press conference the day before, Toyoda Kane (21, 4th year student at Keio University), who will compete in the men’s 400mH and 110mH, spoke of his enthusiasm for his first Olympic appearance, saying, “If I can run according to my planned race, I can win the race.”
In the 400m hurdles, Toyoda, Kazuki Kurokawa (22, Sumitomo Electric Industries), and Kaito Tsutsue (25, Kazuhiro Sports Techno) have already surpassed the standard for participating in the Paris Olympics, so the winner will be immediately selected as an Olympic representative.
“This year’s match is for a ticket to the big stage, so I’m extremely nervous,” said Toyoda.
In October of last year, he recorded 48.47 seconds in the 400m Hurdles, breaking the qualifying standard for the Paris Olympics (48.70 seconds). At the Seiko Golden Grand Prix (GGP) track and field event on May 19, he improved that record by 0.11 seconds, winning with a time of 48.36 seconds, the fifth fastest time in history.
“I want to get a good ranking in the 400m hurdles and beat my GGP time,” he said, aiming to improve on his personal best at this tournament as well.
Furthermore, she will compete in two unusual events, the 400mH and 110mH, over the course of four days. “There are very few athletes in Japan who can do both events, including myself. I feel like I might be the only one,” said Toyoda. “I want to be a new role model and do both. I’ve been doing my first and second years of university without really focusing on that, so I want to just keep going with the flow and enjoy it,” she said with a smile.
In addition, he is now just 0.02 seconds away from the qualifying standard in the 110m hurdles, and is determined to “aim for times in the semi-finals and finals, with the momentum going to be under 13.27 seconds,” as he aims to compete in both the 110m hurdles and the 400m at the Paris Olympics.
Source: Japanese