Koji Murofushi caps his unbeaten season with a win in Yokohama (© Kazutaka Eguchi (Agence SHOT))
Japan’s Olympic Hammer Throw champion Koji Murofushi, who will be the undisputed home crowd favourite when the IAAF World Championships in Athletics take place in Osaka, Japan from 25 August to 2 September is the latest addition to the 2007 IAAF Online diaries.
“How are you? How have you been lately? Once again, I am writing my diaries on the IAAF Online. I am planning to write about my everyday thoughts, as well as new challenges, including new training methods. I hope you will enjoy reading my diaries.”
“This is the year of the World Championships in Osaka. I think it will be an event that attracts world wide attention. Thus the question “Are the Championships attracting lots of attention in Japan?” comes up often lately. What I feel is that I started to see an increase in the recognition level for the World Championships recently.
For example, while I am walking down the streets I hear less of “Great job in Athens.” Instead lately I hear “Good luck in Osaka,” more often. I always reply by saying “Thank you for your encouragement and please come to the stadium.” With a combined effort from athletes and coaches, I hope to make the event as successful as it can be.”
“As for me, in 2005 since I was not able to get in shape, I was not able to compete. After changing my training, I had a very successful 2006 season. I was a little nervous before my first competition of 2006, because it was my first competition in nearly a year. What I found out last year was that I really like the Hammer Throw.”
“Furthermore, I was very happy to compete against my friendly rivals again. My rivals are very important for me. Because of them, I was able to be the hammer thrower that I am today. Once again this year, I am hoping to be involved in the great competition, where the most important aspect is not winning or losing.”
“Last July, I opened my own website - http://www.kojimurofushi.net/en/index.html - I have uploaded photos I have taken myself to my website, but that is not all. Recently, I also have introduced “Net Sports Museum” to my website. It is a medium in which the images of “Inner side of Athletes” are presented.”
“The main idea is not to present the objective image of athletes in motion as seen from the outside, but rather present the image of athletes’ motion as seen by athletes themselves. Athletes are used to seeing their images on TV and furthermore they are being watched all the time during the competitions by spectators. They also see their motion as video taped by their coaches for biomechanical analysis.”
“However, what I am hoping to do is to present an image of athletes’ motion and impression as felt by athletes themselves. What is good about this plan is that regardless of age, gender, or the level of performance, it can be an arena in which athletes can present themselves. For example, the image of my hammer throwing is not limited to the actual image of throwing, but it also includes the process of picking up the hammer after the throw, filling the hole the hammer created in the field, as well as polishing the hammer. The process of hammer throwing includes all these aspects. I hope to develop this concept further.”
“Right now, I am working toward the Ph.D. degree at the University. My specialty is in the field of biomechanics, more specifically on the biomechanics of the Hammer Throw. The research in this field has stagnated since the early 1990’s, and thus I feel it is important to pursue such research. My specific area of research involves the determination, through the use of special sensors (see photo), of the various initial conditions for the mechanics of hammer throwing. In the near future, if this data can be fed back to the athletes and coaches, it will be a great assistance to the science of coaching.”
Koji
