Japan’s Olympic female judoka were beaten with bamboo swords and slapped by their coaches, officials said yesterday, weeks after a schoolboy suicide sparked debate over corporal punishment.
A 15-strong group of judo practitioners complained to the Japanese Olympic Committee last month that they had been subjected to physical punishment by the team’s head coach.
The group, which included athletes who took part in the London Olympics, charges that head coach Ryuji Sonoda routinely abused them, slapping them in the face and hitting them with thick wooden swords like those used in the Japanese martial art of kendo.
They also complained that some were forced to compete in matches while injured, local reports said.
“We have asked the All Japan Judo Federation [AJJF] to investigate the case and improve their methods if the charges are true,” a committee official said.
AJJF head Koshi Onozawa said the federation has admonished Sonoda and other coaches, who had admitted several of the allegations.
“We received information in late September that Mr Sonoda, the head coach of the female national team, might have been physically bullying athletes,” Onozawa told a press conference in Tokyo. “Our executive office took this seriously and questioned both him and athletes, discovering the charges were largely true.”
The federation told Sonoda and other coaches that they must mend their ways and “will face a harsher punishment if a similar incident happens in the future,” Onozawa said.
The case comes weeks after a Japanese high-school student killed himself after repeated physical abuse from his basketball coach, an incident that has provoked a bout of national hand-wringing over the way children are disciplined.
Referring to yesterday’s claims, Japanese Minister for Education and Sports Hakubun Shimomura told reporters that a rethink of sports coaching was required.
Under a law dating from 1947, teachers are not permitted to physically discipline their charges and many react with horror to the idea. However, there are no statutory penalties for teachers who do so.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
Taiwanese-American right fielder Corbin Carroll on Tuesday hit his third home run in two days to tie for the MLB lead with 14 homers. Carroll on Monday hit two homers for the Arizona Diamondbacks in their 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants to put him with in one of the hit leaders. Although the Giants got their revenge on Tuesday night, beating Arizona 10-6, Carroll hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to tie him with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the most homers so far this year. In the previous night’s
RSS