【アスリートの原石】”陸上・走り高跳び”天性の踏み切りで日本高校記録更新へ！ ～畝地雄大選手(鹿児島南高校2年)～ News+おやっと！特集

"Athletes in the Raw" is a corner that introduces future athletes. This time, we will introduce a high school student who loves jumping in "track and field/high jump"! Q. Is it a good feeling when you jump? "Yes! It's the best!" This is what Yudai Unechi, a second-year student at Kagoshima Minami High School, answers with a refreshing smile. Unechi first encountered the high jump when he was in elementary school. At the time, he was mainly active in basketball and swimming, but after winning the Kirishima City track and field record meet at the recommendation of his homeroom teacher, he started high jump when he became a junior high school student. Although it has only been five years since he started competing seriously, his jumping ability is among the best in the country! In the Kyushu tournament held in Oita in 2024, he won the championship with a jump of 2.15 meters, breaking the high school record in Kagoshima Prefecture! ! After that, he continued to achieve good results, such as winning the National Sports Festival and the Junior Olympics, and was selected as an Olympic athlete under 20 years old, which brings together the top athletes in Japan. When asked about the secret to his strength, track and field club advisor Koichi Shinkai said, "I wonder if he was born with the sense of jumping high, but his sense of high jump has been remarkable since junior high school." "It's the ability to turn horizontal force into vertical force, or rather, the technique of taking off. He excels in the power to jump up." Even Shinkai, who has over 30 years of track and field coaching experience and has trained Olympians in the past, says he feels that Unechi's takeoff is a natural talent. However, his competitive career so far has not been smooth sailing. A turning point that makes him rethink his approach to competition... At the 2024 National High School Championships, Unechi's rival will jump 2.24 meters right in front of him, breaking the Japanese high school record. This day prompted Unechi to reexamine not only the act of jumping, but also the approach, posture in the air, and arm swing when taking off, and to be conscious of each and every movement involved in jumping, one by one, in practice. In order to grow, he does not hesitate to do things he is not good at or dislikes. To jump higher. He does not skimp on his basic running training, which is essential for speeding up the approach. And of course, his favorite jumping! "I think he has the potential to be at the top of Japan and to represent Japan," Shinkai says. "Right now I'm just focusing on winning the Inter-High School Championships and the National Sports Festival." "I'd like to compete in the World Championships at least once." He did not mention his goal of competing on a big stage like the Olympics or the World Championships, but he is eager to break the Japanese high school record he witnessed last year, which is his immediate goal of jumping 2.25 meters. For more information, please watch the video. ■Please subscribe to our channel    / kkb5ch   ■KKB video app "KAPLI" News, videos, and information about Kagoshima are now available! https://www.kkb.co.jp/kapli/ ■"KAPLI" X (Aim for 10,000!) https://x.com/kapli_kkb #Athlete's Gem #High Jump #Unedeji Yudai #Kagoshima Minami High School #Breaking Japan's High School Record #Kagoshima #KAPLI #KKB