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After winning silver in the 4x100m relay at Rio 2016 and bouncing back from injuries, the Japanese sprinter now aims to shine at a home Olympics in 2021
Winning silver medal as anchor in 4×100m relay
CAMBRIDGE Aska continues to soar to new heights both physically and mentally as he looks to compete in the men’s 100m and 4×100m relay at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. At the Athlete Night Games in Fukui held in August 2020, he set two personal bests twice – at the preliminary round (10.05) and at the final race (10.03) in the 100m. At the Japan National Championships in October 2020, he finished second after KIRYU Yoshihide. Having been unable to display his full potential over two years due to injuries suffered since 2018, Cambridge seemed relieved to be back in the battle among the top sprinters in Japan.
“I can’t deny that I was frustrated and concerned over whether I would ever be able to compete among the fastest runners again,” he admitted.
At the Olympic Games Rio 2016, his first Olympic Games, he advanced to the semi-finals in the men’s 100m, and clinched a silver medal as an anchor in the 4×100m relay with a time of 37.60, breaking the Asian record sending the Japanese people into a frenzy.
“To me, the relay stands out in my memory, and it serves as the most impressive race of my athletic career so far. I regard the period leading up to the Rio 2016 Games as my first stage of life as an athlete, and the period after Rio 2016 as my second stage. The relay drew so much public attention to me so the environment changed a lot,” he explained.
That’s how powerful the impact of the four relay sprinters must have been. Aged 23 at the time, Cambridge had a bright and promising future ahead of him as he prepared for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
