Olympic Day Run 2007

An opportunity to meet Olympians
The 2007 Olympic Festival!

On Monday, 8 October, 2007 (National Health and Sports Day), the 2007 Olympic Festival was held at Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, based on the theme of "Olympics for Everybody."

At the opening ceremony, the investiture for the leader of the Team "Gambare! Nippon!" support squad was also held. Everybody joined in the "Gambare, Nippon!" [Go for it, Japan!] cheer.

Due to rain, the opening ceremony was held in the gymnasium. First, Mr. Tsunekazu Takeda, the President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, encouraged those in attendance to "take this opportunity to enjoy sports." Also, touching on the fact that Tokyo has announced it will bid to host the 31st Olympic Games in 2016, he called for people to lend their understanding and support for the bid.

Next, Mr. Chiharu Igaya, a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, read out the following message from Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC: "Today is a day for reaffirming the meaning of the Olympics. I hope you all have a rewarding day." Also, Mr. Kenji Tanigawa, the Vice Governor of Tokyo, read out a statement of intent to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Tokyo.

After that, the swearing-in ceremony for the leader of the Team "Gambare! Nippon!" support squad for the Beijing Olympics was held. Shuzo Matsuoka was appointed president, and he made a strong appeal to all who were there: "When everybody's cheers reach the athletes, they become a real source of energy. In the same way, supporters receive energy from the athletes. Let's all cheer together." Then everybody joined in with a vigorous cheer of "Gambare, Nippon!"

Following the ceremony, the Olympic Day Ambassadors - Kenji Ogiwara, Tsugiharu Ogiwara and Miho Takeda - were introduced, along with the Olympians taking part in the Olympic Day Run and those Olympians giving instruction in the day's sports clinics. Each Olympian was greeted with wild cheers and applause from the gathered participants.

Fun run in the rain

The weather was changeable with intermittent rain. Even so, following the opening ceremony, approximately 3,000 runners, ranging from elementary school children to senior citizens, gathered in high spirits at the stadium for the Olympic Day Run (a fun run over roughly 5 km).

The runners were joined by 28 Olympians, including Ikue Teshigawara (short-track speed skating), Toshiyuki Kuroiwa (speed skating) and Mai Nakamura (swimming). Waving to the cheering crowds lining the course and chatting to their fellow runners, the Olympians enjoyed interacting with the other participants.

The finishing runners were greeted by their families and friends, and congratulated each other on their efforts. Although everybody was soaked by the rain, many people remarked, "It felt good, like running in a shower," and all participants enjoyed their own performance.

This was followed by the JOC Cup ekiden road relay, in which approximately 50 teams and 200 runners took part. Everyone enjoyed the team aspect of passing on a single sash, and once again all the runners crossed the finishing line with beaming smiles.

Talk shows in the gym - another great success

Following the Olympic Day Run, the Olympians took part in talk shows and staged clinics for various sports in the gymnasium.

At the first Olympian Talk Show, which had the theme of "Cheer for the Beijing Olympics!!" Tsugiharu Ogiwara was master of ceremonies.

Mai Nakamura (swimming), Masato Uchishiba (judo) and Masaki Inoue (cycling) were joined on stage by Shuzo Matsuoka, the leader of the support squad.

Ms. Nakamura recalled how she was so nervous at the Olympics that she couldn't swallow her food, while Mr. Uchishiba talked about the wonder of seeing first-hand so many athletes he had only ever seen before on TV. In this way, the athletes shared the excitement and joy they found in taking part on the Olympic stage. Mr. Matsuoka commented that he was more pumped up about Beijing than the athletes themselves, and finally the whole arena joined in with the "Gambare, Nippon!" chant.

In the next talk show, "Challenge the Olympians! Test of Strength," children selected by lottery from the audience joined Olympians Yoko Ota (athletics), Taku Nakanishi (skiing), Ikue Teshigawara (short-track speed skating) and Shu Arai (table tennis) in measuring their abilities on the side-step test, standing long jump, grip strength test, sit and reach test, and sit-ups test. Every time the Olympians took part, the audience gasped at their Olympic-level prowess and strength. The children who took part with the Olympians were also greeted with warm cheers. In the sit-ups event, the sibling competition between Kenji and Tsugiharu Ogiwara brought the audience to its feet.

Finally, special guest Yuko Arimori was welcomed as a participant in a talk show titled "Bring the Olympics to Tokyo, 2016!" In this, Ms. Arimori, MC Kenji Ogiwara, Tsugiharu Ogiwara and Miho Takeda expressed their excitement over the "glory of staging the Olympics in Tokyo" and the "thrill felt by coming into direct contact with the best athletes." Ms. Arimori talked about the time her 5-year-old nephew traveled to Atlanta to watch her at the Atlanta Olympics, and how that memory is still fresh in her mind today. She spoke about how she hopes children can experience the Olympic Games. Finally, all the participants joined in a rhythmical hand clap reaffirming everyone's desire to see the Olympics staged in Tokyo.

Strength Tests, Sports Clinics and a Walking Rally
A diverse range of hands-on events were staged

A booth under the banner of "Bring the Olympics to Tokyo, 2016!" was set up in the gymnasium and demonstrations took place on how to make traditional Japanese mizuhiki decorative string. The bid logo with the decorative mizuhiki strings incorporates a number of meanings: "Linking people and people," "Linking sports and culture," "Linking the world and Japan," "Linking children and the future" and "Linking our wishes."

Numerous people lent their support to a petition campaign. One particularly encouraging message was given by a person who saw the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo, who stated: "I want the children of today to experience the excitement and unfettered joy that we felt back then."

The walking rally, which was also based on the theme of "Bring the Olympics to Tokyo, 2016!" was also well received. Participants collected stamps of Tokyo Olympic bid keywords such as "Linking" and "Compact" and received mizuhiki strings in five different colors from five stations in the park. On reaching the goal, the participants, including numerous parents and children, were given prizes of bookmarker sets carrying the bid logo.

In the sports hands-on corner in the central square, the JOC Challenge Test of Strength was staged and children entered their results from the side-step test, standing long jump, grip strength test, sit and reach test, and sit-ups test onto a chart. Everybody had a fun time while finding out about their own physical strength.

The sports clinics led by currently active athletes were also a great success.

At the athletics stadium, a field athletics clinic was held under the guidance of Yuka Murofushi, Tatsuro Yoshino, Daisuke Watanabe and Sakie Nobuoka. The athletes smiled broadly at the sight of children energetically running around. At the judo clinic held by Masato Uchishiba and Noriko Kitada in the gymnasium, elementary school students could be seen practicing throws with high school students much bigger than themselves.

Clinics were also held for soccer, tennis, archery and other sports, and the participating children listened intently to the valuable advice given by the elite athletes.

The autograph session conducted by the Olympians inside the gymnasium was also very popular. Some people had the athletes sign their T-shirts, while others presented them with cards to sign. Everyone was delighted to mingle with and shake the hands of these Olympic athletes, and the excitement in the gymnasium was enough to make everyone forget about the rain outside.

Comments from participants

(From left) Kimiko Miura, Kentaro Masakane, Hideki Ohno
We are jogging friends. We practice around once a month and get together whenever there is a competition. The great thing about the Olympic Festival fun run is that you can take part without worrying about your time.

Takeru Shinoda of Ichihara-city
I have taken part in the Olympic Day Run every year for 10 years. I always look forward to it because I can meet numerous Olympians while jogging.

At the "Bring the Olympics to Tokyo, 2016!" booth
Yoko Uchino of Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, with children Tomoki and Miki
We live near Komazawa Park. We supported the petition for the 2016 Games in the hope that we can feel the excitement of the Olympics first-hand.

Comments from the participating Olympians

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