On Friday, July 12th, a send-off party was held at the city hall of Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, for the athletes and people involved in the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games who have ties to Sagamihara. On this day, Olympic athletes Ren Yoshizawa (14), currently ranked number one in the world in street skateboarding, Jo Sakai (31), a 3m springboard diving athlete, and Haruna Utsumi (24), a representative for women’s rugby sevens. From the Paralympics, deputy leader Yoshihiro Nakazawa and Aoyama, who is the escort for Misato Michishita, a gold medalist in the Tokyo Paralympic marathon for the visually impaired, attended the send-off party. In addition to a speech from Mayor Motomura, bouquets were presented to each athlete. In addition, Daibo-kun, the mascot of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara DynaBoars, the mascot of the men’s rugby sevens player Yu Okudaira, who left for Paris that morning, attended the party. The citizens and staff gathered at the city hall were delighted.The focus is on 14-year-old Yoshizawa Koi, who recently won the Paris Olympics qualifying series and qualified for her first Olympic appearance. “Paris is a battle with myself, and I want to give it my all, 120%,” she said with enthusiasm. She also showed a side of her that is typical of a 14-year-old. Yoshizawa, who is still in junior high school, was asked if her friends at school had said anything to her when she decided to go to the Paris Olympics, and she smiled and said, “The competition was held in the middle of the night, but I was surprised that so many people came to watch. When I got home, everyone in my class prepared boards and celebrated with me.” Sakai will also be competing in her third consecutive Olympics. “I haven’t been able to win a medal until now, so I want to win one this time. I want to carry Sagamihara on my back and play energetically,” she said, once again expressing her desire for a medal, and her feelings for Sagamihara, for which she has been recognized as a hometown athlete. And for women’s rugby sevens player Utsumi, this is her first Olympics. She said, “I want to play my part to win a medal.” At the press conference that followed, Yoshizawa asked Sakai, who has decided to compete in consecutive Olympics, about the athletes’ village. Sakai responded, “There will be athletes from other sports in the athletes’ village, and you can eat food from many different countries. It’s good to enjoy not just the sport but also the town. Let’s have fun and do our best.” Yoshizawa listened to her senior’s words with a firm nod. After the send-off party and press conference, the athletes were in a relaxed mood, chatting away. At a girls’ get-together with Yoshizawa and Utsumi, Utsumi, who is also Yoshizawa’s older sister, started a conversation with Yoshizawa, who then seemed to enjoy talking. We were able to see athletes from other sports interacting with each other. *Please note that there is no narration in this video.
[テレ朝ｎｅｗｓ] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp
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