Japan swimming chief expected to quit after futile Olympics
Japan’s head of swimming operations is expected to resign in the coming weeks after overseeing a team that claimed only one medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games according to sources.
Tomoyuki Matsushita finished the men’s 400-meter individual medley in second place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The 19-year-old was the only Japanese swimmer to reach a podium meaning that Japan took home a single silver medal, their worst swimming result at an Olympic Games since Atlanta when not a single swimmer made a podium.
The poor outcome is now likely to cost the head of Japan’s swimming operations, Takayuki Umehara, his job as Japan aims to regain its competitive edge for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in four years.
Second place for Japan! 🇯🇵
Matsushita Tomoyuki earns silver in swimming men’s 400m individual medley! 🏊@Japan_Olympic | @WorldAquatics | #Swimming#Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherforTomorrow
pic.twitter.com/HJMlvcporI— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 28, 2024
Umehara, a former gold medalist from the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, helped Daiya Seto become a world-class individual medley swimmer and was then elected chairman of the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF) in 2021 after the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games had concluded.
A single medal now means Umehara will likely be replaced well before his official term expires in June 2025 say sources at the Japan Swimming Federation.
At the time of writing a potential successor has not been named.