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Japan medal hope Muratake relishing stage at Tokyo worlds / Photo: © AFP
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Japan medal hope Muratake relishing stage at Tokyo worlds
Rachid Muratake is host country Japan's biggest hope for a track medal at the World Athletics Championships and said the cheers for his first appearance on Monday went "beyond anything I imagined".
He qualified safely from his 110m hurdles heat in a time of 13.22sec, recovering from a slow start to finish second behind Jamaica's Tyler Mason in Tokyo.
Muratake finished fifth at last year's Paris Olympics and has been tipped as an outside bet to make the podium this week in the Japanese capital.
A huge cheer went up around the stadium when the 23-year-old's name was announced before his heat.
He responded by bowing to the crowd before pointing into the on-track TV camera in a tribute to Japanese anime "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo".
Muratake said he was "able to finish with some gas still left in the tank and race calmly".
"The cheers went beyond anything I imagined. I enjoyed it," he said.
Muratake is the first Japanese athlete to reach a men's 110m hurdles Olympic final and if he makes the podium in Tokyo it would be Japan's first world hurdles medal in 20 years.
He had a difficult build-up to the competition, finishing last in the Diamond League finals in Zurich last month.
But he said his first appearance in Tokyo energised him and "flipped a switch in my body".
"I want to show my strength and sharpness in the races to come," he said.
A. Martins--JDB
