This book focuses on the Japanese relay team, which is made up of five sprinters: Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takadaira, Nobuharu Asahara, and Shigeyuki Kojima, all of whom run at incredible speeds around the track. The book describes their time on the track, from the 2007 World Championships in Osaka to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, interweaving objective facts, the author's perspective, and the subjective views of the team members.
What is surprising is that the author interviewed each of them, and also interviewed their families and teachers, and followed their daily training. The enormous amount of time spent on interviews is clearly reflected in the writing. As the athletes themselves said, the author's writing captures the movements of their bodies and the fluctuations of their emotions while they are running.
Regarding relays, he also talks about the depth that cannot be known by just watching. Reading his book, one can understand that relays are not a simple race where the 100m times of each of the four people are added together. Compared to overseas teams, Japanese teams excel at "creative passing," which is based on the trust that the runners in front and behind will catch up/will definitely receive the pass. If it goes well, the baton pass can make the runners in front and behind run faster. In other words, a time that is shorter than the simple sum of the times is not a dream.
It may seem like a childhood thing to say, but fast runners are cool. I think adults who have dedicated their lives to speed are incredibly cool.
