YM COLUMN ARCHIVE

August 13, 2008

In the middle of the Olympics

Whole Japan was excited by Kosuke Kitajima’s winning the gold medal by the new world record in100 meters breaststroke. At first, Brendan Hansen, an American world record holder of 100 meters breaststroke, was considered Kitajima’s greatest rival, but newly came into competition was Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen who cleared preliminary and semifinal by the better records than Kitajima’s. I suppose Dale Oen, younger than Kitajima, mentally pressed Kitajima by his rapid improvement of swimming records in Olympics. Various mass media reported, “Appearance of the new star changed Kitajima’s look of eyes.” If to mentally lose advantage or to rouse oneself the other way around is the difference between a big-time swimmer or not.

We had a soft tennis tournament hosted by the Middle School Soft Tennis Federation at Fukuyama city of Hiroshima prefecture when I was in the first grade of middle school. Then I had played tennis only for four months. Naturally, I myself and people around me never expected a newcomer like me would advance to the semifinal of the prefectural tournament. A semifinal opponent was the third grade. A forward player was well known in the prefecture by the name of Sakamoto. Our team played a good tennis to have led the early games by three to zero. One more winning a game would have advanced to the final. We changed a court in high spirits and then something happened. Sakamoto made a wrong way of changing court (perhaps intentionally?) and so we passed each other when I had a glimpse of his chest hair by polo shirt.

“What? Am I fighting against such a grown-up?” My fighting spirits rapidly withered away. I was a green hand. After the glimpse I couldn’t get over the impression of Sakamoto over the other side of the net to have lost the match by three to four at the end. In fact, Sakamoto later became an all Japan champion. It’s merely a matter of chest hair but it sometimes matters indeed. It was just a too bad thing to see for a middle school boy.

Kitajima, consequently pressed to a corner, adjusted himself to the final with ever growing motivation. We all have to give him a lot of credit. He really deserves the name of topnotch swimmer. I once heard Ichiro, another superjock, say on TV, “To feel myself in the best condition needs the best condition of the opponent pitcher.” It is implicitly meaningful indeed.

I welcome your opinions on this column to the following E-mail address.
matogawa@planetary.or.jp