Yusuke Suzuki, The Daiwa Scholarship Homestay Olympian

Text by former Daiwa Scholar, Michael Reddish.

On Saturday, 4th August 2012, Yusuke Suzuki will represent Japan in the 20km Race Walk. We first met sixteen years ago during my homestay with the Suzuki family as part of my Daiwa Scholarship. I was exceptionally fortunate to be placed with Hirofumi and Keiko Suzuki and their family. They are the kindest and most engaging family you could wish to meet, eager to question and debate, enthusiastic both to share their culture and to learn about others. They also gave me the most wonderful introduction to the cuisine and sake of the Kaga domain! Yusuke was just eight years old, with elder brothers Kensuke and Shinsuke already at high school and middle school respectively. I must confess that at that stage there were no discernible signs of his future elite sporting prowess!

We kept in close contact throughout what was a remarkable year in Japan as I proceeded with my research at the Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice and Japan Federation of Bar Associations and we have been great friends ever since. The Suzukis came to Boston for my graduation and have visited us in England many times, most recently for our daughter’s first birthday last year. Throughout this time, we have watched and supported Yusuke’s progress in athletics. We first saw Yusuke compete in 2004 at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Grossetto, Italy and then at the World Juniors again in Marrakech in 2005 in which he won a bronze medal in the 10,000m Walk. In 2009 we supported him in his first senior competition, the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, in which he entered the 20,000m Walk. Whilst still young for his sport, Yusuke has made remarkable progress: his greatest achievement to date was to finish in 8th place in the 20,000m Walk in the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea in 2011. It was this result which secured his qualification to represent his country in London Olympics.

It has been 10 years since Yusuke first started race walking and it has always been his dream to be an Olympic medallist. His training regime is a gruelling 6 days per week fuelled by an enormous quantity of fruit. He has been at the Japanese athletics base in London for almost a week now, acclimatising to the British ‘summer’.

On Thursday 2 August I will welcome twenty of his friends and family to London as we prepare to support him in his first Olympics.

On Saturday 4 August we will be in the north stand on The Mall. You won’t be able to miss us: apparently we will all be wearing T-Shirts with his name and face on! You can come to support him without tickets as there is public access to about half of the course. The race takes place on the Mall and Constitution Hill and will start at 5pm.

Gambare Yusuke!