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#Four

Will he surpass Vincent, the amazing first-year student studying abroad in the university long-distance running world?

The emergence of Tokyo International University’s Yegon Vincent seems to have changed the “dimension” of international students in the university long-distance running world.

In 2020, as a freshman, Vincent set a new section record in the third section of the Hakone Ekiden, and the following year set a new section record in the second section. In his third year, he was not in good form and placed fifth in the second section, but in his last Hakone in 2023, he appeared in the fourth section and set another new section record. This means that Vincent’s name is now lined up as the section record holder for sections 2, 3, and 4.

It seemed like Tokyo International University would struggle after Vincent’s graduation, but in the spring of 2023, another incredible class of first-year students enrolled.

Kenyan Richard Eteeli set a new student record in the 10,000m with a time of 27:06.88 on April 22, and then set another new student record in the 5,000m with a time of 13:00.17 on May 4.

Both of these times are better than Vincent’s. If all goes well, he will likely record a time of under 12 minutes in the 5000m, and there are high hopes that he will surpass Vincent in the Hakone Ekiden as well.

However, in reality, international students are unlikely to be a factor in winning the Hakone Ekiden.

In this situation, one cannot help but think that it would be tough for athletes born and raised in Japan to compete, but when Vincent was not in top form, it was not uncommon for Japanese athletes to beat him in times.

The leading candidate was Tazawa Ren (Komazawa University → Toyota Motor Corporation), but what’s interesting is that even if you have a player with as much destructive power as Vincent, it doesn’t lead to victory in the Hakone Ekiden.

Of course, international students have a great influence in the Izumo Ekiden, where the distance and number of participants are both small, but their impact is diluted in the Hakone Ekiden, where the overall strength of the team is tested.

In fact, the only team with international students to win the race was Yamanashi Gakuin University in 1992, 1994, and 1995. The closest a team has come to winning since the beginning of the 21st century was Soka University in 2021, when they maintained the lead until just before the finish line of the 10th section.

In other words, international students are less likely to be a factor in winning, and looking at the overall picture, many schools are basically positioning them as a way to get through the qualifying rounds or to gain seed rights.