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[ODDS and EVENS] World Champion Haruka Kitaguchi Targets Olympic Gold

Not satisfied with merely winning, popular javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi is focused on making improvements as she prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 24, 2024

Ed Odeven

Haruka Kitaguchi competes in the women's javelin throw event at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix on May 19, 2024, at Tokyo's National Stadium. (©SANKEI)

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By all indications, reigning women's javelin world champion Haruka Kitaguchi should be considered the favorite to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kitaguchi has entered three competitions in the spring outdoor season, and she's walked away as the winner all three times.

In the 26-year-old's latest outing, she participated in the Seiko Golden Grand Prix on Sunday, May 19 at National Stadium in Tokyo, where the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics were held. It's also where the 2025 World Athletics Championships will take place.

On Sunday, Kitaguchi's flair for making a big throw at the biggest moment of a competition was on display.

She delivered an event-best throw of 63.45 meters on her final attempt, surpassing Colombia's Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado (62.06) to seal the victory.

For Kitaguchi, that throw provided affirmation that her preparations for the Paris Olympics are going well.

"I've been able to work on my physical conditioning for the past two weeks and it feels like I'm starting to get back into shape," Kitaguchi was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse at the Tokyo meet.

Success in 2024 for Haruka Kitaguchi

Before appearing at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, the Hokkaido Prefecture native triumphed at the Yangtze Delta Athletics Diamond Gala in Suzhou, China, on April 27. On her best throw of the day, Kitaguchi's javelin flew 62.97 meters.

She returned to competition on May 5 in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, and proved that her win in China wasn't a fluke.

In 2024, Kitaguchi is as confident in her ability and as polished in her throwing mechanics as she was during a string of successes in 2023.

At the Mito Invitational, Kitaguchi again finished on top of the leaderboard with the day's best throw of 61.83 meters.

Not satisfied just to win, Kitaguchi is always striving for better results, farther throws. And that hunger to keep improving is another indication that her success in the biggest of big events of 2023 wasn't a flash-in-the-pan occurrence.

For example, how did Kitaguchi assess performance at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix?

"I'm happy that I won in the end but I would have liked to have thrown 63 [meters] a little earlier," she said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Kitaguchi catapulted from second place to first with her event-best throw. It was late drama for the popular, effervescent athlete.

Rising to the Top

Kitaguchi participated in the Tokyo Olympics, placing 12th overall (55.42 meters). At that stage of her career, she had not yet achieved the type of results that would define her true breakthrough year of 2023, when she entered a combined 16 domestic and global competitions and won 11 of them. Kitaguchi also had three runner-up finishes in a sensational season.

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Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.