Japan, France sign partnership accord

The Japanese and French athletics federations signed a partnership agreement Wednesday to cooperate in boosting their competitive level as they head toward the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Under the indefinite agreement, the two sides will exchange information on athlete development, organise event-by-event joint training sessions, share training camps and promote exchanges of coaches and junior athletes. The agreement was signed in Tokyo by Yohei Kono, president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, and French Athletic Federation vice president Pierre Weiss. Japan can host training camps for French athletes ahead of next year's world athletics championships in Beijing, while Japanese athletes can train in France before they compete in Europe, Kono told a news conference. Weiss said there was a plan to have Japanese athletes train in Paris for a few weeks with French athletes after the Japanese national championships in June, ahead of the world championships in Moscow in August. "For us, France is a perfect partner as French men excel in the 100m and 200m sprints," Kono said, citing French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre who in 2010 became the first white European to run 100m under 10 seconds. Kono also cited Renaud Lavillenie, who won the men's pole vault gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, as an example of the French federation's "excellent athlete development". Weiss said: "There is a lot to learn from Japanese athletes, especially marathon runners whose levels are extremely high." Mitsugi Ogata, senior managing director of the Japanese federation, said Japan could learn a lot from France. "Frankly speaking, Japan's levels are quite low. We will count on French help first of all and eventually catch up with them to build an equal partnership," he said. From: AFP