For Haruka Kitaguchi, there is no shortage of motivational fuel as she looks to the road ahead in the aftermath of her dramatic last ditch golden throw in the women&rsquo;s javelin final at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
Struggling all night to find the rhythm and technique that took her to a world lead of 67.04m at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on 16 July, the 25-year-old Japanese thrower unleashed a mighty sixth round effort of 66.73m to propel herself from fourth to first.
In doing so, the beaming Kataguchi earned a place in the track and field history books as the first Asian athlete to claim the women&rsquo;s javelin crown, snatching the gold from the inspired 32-year-old Colombian Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado, who led from round one with a 65.47m area record.
In an explosion of joy, the native of&nbsp;Asahikawa in Hokkaido province rushed to the perimeter fence to embrace her coach David Sekerak, a Czech javelin guru clad in a Japanese backroom team polo shirt.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64e903f36c7b9b6800e17c19.jpg" alt="Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her javelin win at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23" />
Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her javelin win at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (&copy; Getty Images)
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Kitaguchi continues to make history for her homeland. The rapidly rising daughter from the Land of the Rising Sun acquired bronze last year in Oregon a medal first for Japan in the women&rsquo;s throws &ndash; and in Budapest she had the golden touch.
&ldquo;I was very nervous coming here, even in the qualifying round,&rdquo; she confesses. &ldquo;It was my first time throwing at the World Championships as number one. It was a big pressure for me.&rdquo;
The pressure level is likely to rise several notches when the new golden girl of Japanese sport comes to defend her world title. The 2025 World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo, which has become her base when she returns home.
Kitaguchi competed in the Olympic Stadium there in 2021, but without any spectators in attendance and when she was still finding her feet on the senior stage, making the final but finishing 12th&nbsp;and last with 55.42m.
It will be different for her in 2025. And, before then, on the Olympic stage in Paris next year.&nbsp;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64ec7feb887751f69f980ab8.jpg" alt="Haruka Kitaguchi competes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo" />
Haruka Kitaguchi competes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (&copy; Getty Images)
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Women&rsquo;s javelin in the Olympics stretches all the way back to Los Angeles in 1932, when the legendary Mildred &lsquo;Babe&rsquo; Didrikson took the inaugural crown. Only one Asian thrower has so far won a medal: China&rsquo;s Liu Shiying, the gold medallist in Tokyo. She finished sixth in the final in Budapest.
So, more history beckons down the line for the burgeoning Kitaguchi.
For the time being, though &ndash; as she prepares to finish her world title-winning season with appearances in the Brussels Diamond League on 8 September, the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb two days later and the Diamond League Final in Eugene on 17 September &ndash; the one-time world U18 champion can bask in the afterglow of her last chance saloon heroics on the banks of the Danube.
&ldquo;The key thing to winning this title was just to believe it,&rdquo; she reflects. &ldquo;I usually do not make big changes in my technique when things aren&rsquo;t going quite right in a competition -&nbsp;I&nbsp;just try running a bit faster and throwing a bit higher.
&nbsp;&ldquo;If I compare last year and this one, my goal in Eugene was just to get into the final. This time, my goal was a medal and even higher - I wanted the gold.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I just told myself, &lsquo;I want the gold.&rsquo; So, I tried as hard as I could.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64ec804b887751f69f980abb.jpg" alt="Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her world U18 title win in Cali in 2015" />
Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her world U18 title win in Cali in 2015 (&copy; Getty Images)
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A surprise winner of the world U18 title in Cali in 2015, Kitaguchi stepped up to star status in her homeland last year when she became the first Japanese athlete to win a medal in the women&rsquo;s throws at the World Athletics Championships, landing bronze with a mark of 63.27m behind defending champion Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia and Kara Winger of the USA.
It was the first tangible sign of major progress since moving to Czechia in 2019 to train under&nbsp;Sekerak, whom she first met at a throws conference in Kourtane in November of the previous year.
Her adopted home now for much of the year is Domazlice, a small town in the in the west of Czechia, population 11,000 &ndash; some 37,183,000 fewer than Tokyo.
&ldquo;David is the national U23 coach in the Czech Republic,&rdquo; says Kitaguchi. &ldquo;I have been training with him for four years now and I have been getting better and better, so it&rsquo;s fine there in Domazlice.
&ldquo;I have learned to speak Czech. A little bit. So, I communicate with David in Czech. I speak Japanese, English and now Czech.&rdquo;
Kitaguchi giggles at herself. Blessed with an engagingly sunny disposition, her conversation in English is punctuated with regular laughter.
Introduced to the crowd before the final, she was all smiles, blowing kisses to the camera and the crowd &ndash; in stark contrast to the next woman up, Barber, who had her business face on.&nbsp;
As the final unfolded, Kitaguchi was hugely animated, pulling a range of anguished expressions and making gestures with her arms, replicating nosediving and flatlining throws.
Mention the Asian record and she guffaws.&nbsp;&ldquo;Yeah, I want to get it,&rdquo; she says of the 67.98m that Lyu Huihui threw in Shenyang in 2019.&nbsp;&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s far.&rdquo;
She chuckles again but the manner in which Kitaguchi has muscled in on what was formerly Chinese territory is probably no laughing matter down Beijing way.
Before the young woman from Asahikawa started to fulfil her youthful talent, prior to 2022, Chinese throwers occupied the top six places in the Asian all-time list in the women&rsquo;s javelin.
&ldquo;Javelin throw is not a very popular event in Japan,&rdquo; Kitaguchi says, &ldquo;but I think it is becoming more and more popular. Before, nobody knew about this event, but now that I&nbsp;have got bronze and then gold, I think it will be more popular.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I spend a lot of time in the Czech Republic, so I hope also the Czech people were cheering for me in the final in Budapest.
&ldquo;David was very nervous in the stands and tried to motivate me, more or less screaming at me. But I think everything just came together in the last attempt.
&ldquo;It was great. At the beginning of the competition, I felt like crying, but at the end I just felt the happiness.&rdquo;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64ec829e5250456d898b81a2.jpg" alt="Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her javelin win at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23" />
Haruka Kitaguchi celebrates her javelin win at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (&copy; Getty Images)
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Sekerak was a more than decent javelin exponent himself, on the fringes of the international scene with a best of 74.50m from 2006.
He has not been the only positive Czech influence on Kitaguchi.&nbsp;
Asked which javelin thrower she admires the most, and whose performances she has studied, the new world champion replies: &ldquo;Barbora Spotakova. I love Barbora Spotakova.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I love that I am in the Czech Republic, her country. I have met her many times.&rdquo;
Indeed, the pair have met in the competitive arena nine times - at what has proven to be the tail end of Spotakova&rsquo;s marathon career as the queen of women&rsquo;s javelin.
The first time was at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava in 2021. Spotakova, a month shy of her 40th&nbsp;birthday, finished fourth. Kitaguchi, 23, was sixth.
In eight subsequent meetings, Kitaguchi has come out on top on every occasion.
Drawn in the same qualifying pool in Tokyo, the young Japanese thrower finished fourth ranked, making the Olympic final.
Their most recent clash came back in Ostrava in May this year.&nbsp;
Spotakova &ndash; who announced her retirement in September last year, after her brilliant bronze medal performance at the European Championships in Munich &ndash; dusted down her old spear and, by now a sprightly 42, finished fifth with 57.23m. Kitaguchi won with 63.72m.
Unlike Kitaguchi, Spotakova was no teenage protege in the javelin. She made her first appearance on the global stage as a multi-eventer.
At the World U20 Championships in Santiago, Chile, in 2000, she finished fourth in a competition won by a 17-year-old Carolina Kluft.
As a javelin specialist, Spotakova went on to become the best ever, capturing three world titles, two Olympic golds and setting the enduring world record of 72.28m in Stuttgart in 2008.
At&nbsp;25, Kitaguchi now has a global title under her belt. Spotakava was 26 when she won her first &ndash; at the 2007 World Championships on Japanese turf in Osaka.
Kitaguchi has a head start, then, if she is to catch up with the legend that is her Czech idol. There is plenty of opportunity to look forward to in the years ahead.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025

For Haruka Kitaguchi, there is no shortage of motivational fuel as she looks to the road ahead

Tokyo a big target for home star Kitaguchi after golden boost in Budapest

<h1>WCH Tokyo 25 logo development&nbsp;</h1>
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WCH Tokyo 25 logo will be the symbol of WCH Tokyo 25. We will develop it through public submissions for design proposals, which aims to make our logo familiar to people and encourage people to participate the development process.&nbsp;
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Detailed information will be announced around November 2023 when public submissions start.&nbsp;

WCH Tokyo 25 Logo development | World Athletics Championships Tokyo25

Logo development

The World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 reached an important milestone on Friday (30) as the founding board meeting of the local organising committee (LOC) was held to elect Mitsugi Ogata as its president.
The meeting took place at Japan Sport Olympic Square in Tokyo, with 10 founding board members in attendance. The organising body is due to be inaugurated on Tuesday (4).
The 2025 World Athletics Championships will see the sport&rsquo;s biggest stars return to Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium, venue for the Olympic Games, in the year that the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) celebrates its centenary year.
&ldquo;Top athletes from around the world, thriving with their talent and competing in front of lively fans, will surely bring excitement and inspire many,&rdquo; said Ogata, President of the JAAF.
&ldquo;Athletes&rsquo; performances will convey the appeal and true value of sports to the people of Tokyo and Japan, and carry on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games. To lead the way for the creation of a new sporting world post Tokyo 2020, the World Athletics Championships will innovate new models for organising major international competitions.
&ldquo;The organising body must have sound governance and integrity as its top priority. We aim to host the World Athletics Championships with approval and support from the people of Tokyo and Japan.&rdquo;
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: &ldquo;The Tokyo World Championships reached a significant milestone today with the founding board meeting of the local organising committee. We awarded the 2025 World Athletics Championships to Tokyo because we have faith in the local authorities to deliver a brilliant event and to do so with a clear structure of governance.
&ldquo;This is an important step towards that goal. We also want to see the National Stadium that was constructed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games finally used as it was designed to be and filled with a passionate crowd cheering on the best athletes in the world. There will be no better way to celebrate 100 years of our sport in Japan, as the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) marks its centenary in 2025.
&ldquo;We further trust that the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 will inspire the people of Japan to continue chasing their own hopes and dreams.&rdquo;
Friday also marked 50 days until the next edition of the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Budapest in Hungary between 19-27 August.
<h3>WCH Tokyo 25 LOC</h3>
Board members: Tsutomu Ushioda, Vice Governor of Tokyo Mitsugi Ogata, President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations Akira Kazama, Vice President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations Takashi Takeichi, Counselor to the Governor on Financial Management, President of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Personnel Support Foundation Naoto Tobe, athlete (high jump) and Chair of the JAAF Athletes&rsquo; Commission Mizuki Noguchi, former athlete (marathon) and sports commentator Shino Hirose, lawyer and Director of the Baseball Federation of Japan Yuri Yagi, lawyer and Arbitrator of Court of Arbitration for Sport Hideki Yokoyama, Director General of the Bureau of Citizens, Culture and Sports Kyoko Raita, Professor of School of Health and Sport Sciences, Chukyo University, and Executive Director of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations
Auditors: Yoko Kudo, CPA in the State of California, Audit &amp; Supervisory Board Member of Volleyball Association Takeshi Watanabe, lawyer (Japan, New York State)
Councillors: Takao Ohashi, lawyer and Deputy Chairman of the committee to protect sports people from violence and abuse at Japan Sport Council Yuko Mitsuya, President of the Japan Basketball Association Masako Yajima, lawyer (Japan, New York State) and professor at Keio University Law School

The World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 reached an important milestone on Friday as the founding board meeting of the local organising committee was held to elect Mitsugi Ogata as its president

World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 LOC holds founding board meeting

World Athletics Championships, Budapest 2023

World Athletics Championships

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<h1 style="text-align: center;">WELCOME TO THE&nbsp; WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS TOKYO 25</h1>
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The World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo in 2025.
More than 2000 athletes from some 200 countries will come to Tokyo to take part in one of the world's biggest sporting events.
The first event was held in Helsinki, Finland.
Tokyo will host the event for the second time and for the first time since 1991.&nbsp;
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Start of Public Submission for Logo Design

"Edo Purple" as the main colour of the WCH Tokyo 25!  

Two years from now, in 2025, the next heated battle will take place in Tokyo

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World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025　世界陸上　東京　世陸　陸上　国立競技場　ボラティア　スポ―ツ　チケット　競技　ブダペスト　ワールドアスレチックス　Tokyo  25

Start of Public Submission for Logo Design

"Edo Purple" as the main colour of the WCH Tokyo 25!

Japan National Stadium

Japan’s Tanaka targeting mile and 5000m double at WRRC Riga 23

Two years from now, in 2025, the next heated battle will take place in Tokyo