The press conference held to announce Fujiwara’s appointment as coach also served as announcement for the end of his career as a competitive runner. The press conference was attended by around 30 reporters from 15 news agencies. The press was interested in Fujiwara’s decision on whether or not to pursue a spot on the Japanese team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to be held this summer.

Creating an environment where student-athletes can shine

From the day of the press conference, Fujiwara assumed the position of new coach. Upon being introduced, he seemed a bit nervous as he began to speak. Based on suggestions from mentors who had a great impact on him, he spoke on the following.

“I want to make Chuo University strong again.”
“Students play the leading role. I want to create an environment where each student-athlete can shine.”
“I want my athletes to value the basics: greet each other, stay organized, keep your promises, be on time for practice, and report, consult and contact with coaches.”

In order to deepen mutual understanding with student-athletes, Fujiwara will leave his family for a short time in order to stay temporarily in the dormitory from the start of his coaching assignment in April.

The Hakone Ekiden (Road Relay Race) is attracting more and more attention every year. Chuo University has an outstanding record during the past 92 Hakone Ekiden Races. The school holds a number of records which include competing a total of 90 times, competing for 87 consecutive times, and winning the overall championship 14 times.

However, Chuo has not won the overall championship since 1996. Since dropping out from the first stage of the ekiden in 2013, the university has not been seeded and has had to compete in preliminary races in order to obtain a spot.

Nevertheless, the training environment for the Ekiden Team is now improving. There are several promising runners and a new coach to train them.
“I want to know what student-athletes are thinking,” says Fujiwara. “I want to engage in communication with students and help them to achieve their goals.”
Fujiwara is seeking to create an open atmosphere where athletes can speak freely with their coaches.

Honing “single-mindedness”

Fujiwara entered Chuo University from Nishiwaki Technical High School (Hyogo Prefecture), which is famous for its performance in the High School Ekiden. During his first year at university, Fujiwara posted the best time for the fifth stage (mountain-climbing stage) of the Hakone Ekiden. He also finished in second place and third place on this difficult stage during his second year and third year respectively, always securing a place on the winner’s podium. In his fourth year at university, he changed to the second stage, where all schools put forth their ace runners. Even so, he succeeded in winning the stage.

In 2003, while he was still a university student, Fujiwara posted a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 12 seconds at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon. This time remains the Japanese record for best time posted by a first-time marathon competitor. In the future, Fujiwara will draw upon his outstanding career as a runner in order to hone training conditions for student-athletes 24 hours a day. He will not rest until student-athletes shine through an outstanding performance. Fujiwara wrote the phrase of single-mindedness on a signature board. This phrase is a pledge for restoring Chuo University to its former glory in the Hakone Ekiden.

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At the press conference, Fujiwara also revealed the factors behind his decision to retire from competition.

Fujiwara had been training for the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon (March 6), a preliminary race en route to his ultimate goal of competing in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, his first-ever Olympic competition. However, on February 4, he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right shin. For one week after deciding to withdraw from the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Fujiwara consulted with his family, parents, and running officials. In the end, he made the decision to end his competitive career. He left his position at his sponsor Honda at the end of March.