Takahashi Nagisa (24, Senko), who graduated from Nihon University three years ago, is trying to take off into the world in the women’s high jump, where she had been stagnant. Depending on the results of the Japan Track and Field Championships (June 27-30: Niigata), she will be eligible to participate in the Paris Olympics.
The participation standard for the Paris Olympics is 1.97m, which is set higher than the Japanese record (1.96m). Although it is currently difficult to achieve that record, Takahashi has the ability to consistently jump at the same height as his personal best. Depending on the results of the Japan Championships and athletes from other countries, there is still a chance that he will be included in the athlete quota for Road to Paris 2024 (a list created by IAAF that counts athletes who have broken the standard and those ranked high in the world) and qualify to participate.
The points of other countries’ athletes cannot be controlled. What Takahashi can do at the Japan Championships is to “give it his all in what he is doing now and break his personal record.” That could result in him breaking the 1.90m mark, which he hasn’t achieved since 2013.
The most memorable moment in the Japan Championships was when he “jumped 1.80m for the first time in his first year of university.”
For Takahashi, the Japan Championships were often turning points in his competitive career. His past Japan Championship results are as follows:
2017 (3rd year of high school): 7th place, 1.74m
2018 (1st year of university): 2nd place, 1.80m
2019 (2nd year of university): 3rd place, 1.74m
2020 (3rd year): Missed due to injury
21 (4th year of university): 4th place, 1.73m
22nd year (Company 1): 1st place, 1.81m
23rd year (2nd year): 1st place, 1.84m
The most memorable Japan Championship was “the first time I jumped 1.80m,” he said, citing the 2018 tournament as a freshman at university. He also participated in the 2017 tournament as a third-year student at Tokyo High School. That same year, he won the Inter-High School Championships and was the top high school athlete. At the time, he was coached by Tokyo High School’s Mr. Daigo Naoyuki (currently the Tokai University jumping block coach and former Japanese record holder with 2.33m). He went on to Nihon University so he could continue to receive Mr. Daigo’s coaching. 1.80m is a record that proves he is at the top level in Japan, and it felt like the work he had done with Mr. Daigo had taken shape.
However, after the season ended, Takahashi became independent and began working on improving in a university environment. He realized that he had been relying too much on Daigo Sensei. Players who rely too much on their coaches are often unable to perform to their full potential when they go to unfamiliar environments, such as overseas, and their own growth often plateaus.
Takahashi was unable to improve his personal record in his second year at university, but he was consistently jumping 1.75 to 1.78 meters. It wasn’t that his new style had failed. In his third year, he had fewer competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he also suffered a major ankle injury, so his season best was a meager 1.74 meters.
“The most frustrating thing was the Japan Championships in my fourth year,” he said. “I had recovered from my injury and was in top form, but I wasn’t able to perform to the best of my ability. Even though I was in my fourth year (my final year), my record wasn’t good, and I only came in fourth. It was at that tournament that I really thought, ‘I don’t want it to end like this.’ I thought I had to change something.”
Midway through his fourth year of college, Takahashi began receiving coaching from Naomi Daigo. Naomi is the wife of Naoyuki Daigo, and was one of Japan’s top triple jump athletes during her active career. As a member of the staff at Tokyo High School, she was also a female coach who led many high school students to national levels.
Source: Japanese