20/04/2018   Stage of the Italian team in Tokorozawa (JPN)






The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are closer than we think. So, with the occasion of the World race walk Team Championships in China, in Taicang, we were given the opportunity to perform the last weeks of preparation for the event in the city of Tokorozawa, about 30km from Tokyo. This, with the goal of experimenting with what could be the environmental and logistical conditions for the Olympic Games.
 
Our Japanese experience began with an inspection of those who then became our training courses. Later, we had the pleasure of visiting Waseda University, which will probably host the Italian national team during the next Olympics.
 
But, the highlight of our first day in Japan was definitely the "Welcome Ceremony", where Japanese hospitality has found its highest expression. We were welcomed with greetings in Italian in a room full of people waving tricolor in our honor. Then there were the address of local authorities, including the mayor of Tokorozawa, the rector of Waseda University and the President of the Prefecture of Saitama.
 
The latter, showing great sportsmanship, wished us to win as many medals as possible at the Tokyo Olympics. In this regard, we have presented a local initiative, which involves the creation of Olympic medals through the recycling of metals in our old smartphones. The ceremony ended with the mutual exchange of typical Japanese and Italian gifts.
 
This warm welcome made us feel immediately at home and start our gathering meeting at the Taicang World Team Championships.
 
The organizing committee provided us with two training options: a circuit inside the Tokorozawa Aviation Park and one at the Tokorozawa Municipal Gymnasium facility, where we have reserved a private room with the equipment necessary for our needs. In both the paths our training is accompanied by the cheering of the local inhabitants, who incite us and infuse us with positive energy.
 
The welcome, hospitality and availability are the emerging qualities of the organizing committee staff, who are concerned not only with optimizing our stay here, but also to approach the Japanese culture, making us live a unique experience, like a afternoon in the streets of the quaint town of Kawagoe, wearing traditional kimonos.
 
After a week of meeting, we can therefore say that it is a positive experience in all respects, which is allowing us to face the last weeks that separate us from the World Team Championships with the right concentration.
 
 
 
Andrea Agrusti 
Mariavittoria Becchetti 
Francesco Fortunato 
Antonella Palmisano
Massimo Stano