“Sport is a common language”: Olympic medalist in athletic visited Timor-Leste to cooperate with JOCVs

Mr. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno), a silver medalist in the men's 4x100m relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a current Olympian, visited Timor-Leste with his coach, Mr.Yasuhiro Toyoda (Chuo University), from November 30 to December 4, 2024. They held various events with JOCVs and interacted with local youth through sport.

On the first day of the activity, "SPO-GOMI", which combines litter picking and sport, took place in the tourist area of Cristo Rey Beach, organized by members of an environmental education JOCV. SPO-GOMI is a competition in which teams compete based on the type and weight of rubbish they collected. Mr. Iizuka, who joined a team of local high school students, said: "I enjoyed picking up rubbish with my teammates. The participants enjoyed the competition and raised their environmental awareness at the same time.” he said with a smile.

Afterwards, beach flags were raised on the clean beach. In the first introduction, Mr. Iizuka said, "I can run as fast as a motorbike!" The children, who actually saw the speed of a world-class athlete, could not hide their surprise.

On the second day, the Japanese Sports Day 'UNDOKAI' was held at the National Gymnasium in Dili.
In order to improve physical education in Timor-Leste, UNDOKAI has been held twice in the past, mainly by members of the Physical Education JOCVs. The UNDOKAI was first introduced to university students studying in the Physical Education Teaching Course, where the JOCV is assigned, and had them experience it. The UNDOKAI was then held at the secondary school to which the JOCV is assigned, with the students who participated in the first UNDOKAI taking part in the management of the event. This third UNDOKAI was the culmination of the previous activities and was organized as an inter-school UNDOKAI with the participation of about 60 students from the four schools to which the JOCVs are assigned. The event was mainly organized by university students who had experienced the previous two UNDOKAI events, with support from the JOCVs.

Everyone wore a Hachi maki (Japanese ceremonial headband) and four events were held: obstacle course, tama ire (ball toss), tug of war and relay.
Mr. Iizuka took part in all the events. All the events were exciting, but the tug-of-war was the most exciting. When Mr. Iizuka's school won the tug-of-war, the excitement was like a Japanese UNDOKAI itself. It was very impressive to see the joy and high-fives of the students.
Mr. Iizuka reflected: "After a few rounds, the shouts started to come out naturally and it was impressive to see how well everyone was in sync with each other.

On the 3rd day, Mr. Iizuka and Mr. Toyoda gave an athletics lesson at a high school in Dili. Mr. Iizuka taught the stretching and warming up routine that he does every day.
During practice with hurdles and cones, Mr. Iizuka carefully checked each person's form and said, "The important thing is to keep your hip joints soft so that you can move your feet quickly and widely".　It was all new to the students, but they were all actively involved.

The next part of the session was a baton passing exercise. Mr. Iizuka gave advice on how to pass the baton to the next person, saying "It is important to be considerate of the person you are passing the baton to".
The event concluded with a relay in which everyone took part.
It was hot and humid, but everyone ran the relay with well hydrated bodies.

On the last day of his stay, Mr. Iizuka reported on his activities in an online interview with the Japanese media from the JICA Timor-Leste office.
When asked by a journalist if there were any difficulties in communicating due to languages and cultural differences, Iizuka replied: ‘I didn't feel any difficulties at all. I realized that sport is a common language.’
He explained: ‘Athletics is the most common sport that everyone can do. When people see my performance, I think everyone will be overwhelmed by the speed and power and they will love athletics even more. That is why I have to keep running fast. And I want to get out of the stadium and continue to do activities that are close to the children, like this opportunity.’ He expressed his enthusiasm.

Mr. Toyoda also commented that such activities also motivate Mr. Iizuka, who is an active athlete, to compete and he also gained a lot of insight into the nature of “Sport and Education”.　Mr. Iizuka left the meeting with a new ambition, saying “I want to organize a Relay Competition next time.”

I feel that Mr. Iizuka’s visit was a great opportunity for the country, especially for the youth, and for the JOCVs. The challenge for the future will be how to continue this positive trend and move forward without stopping. I will continue to make efforts to further promote JICA's cooperation in the field of “Sport and Development”, including through the activities of JOCVs.