Yui Ohashi punched the water hard as she celebrated winning the women's 400-meter individual medley at Tokyo Aquatic Centre on Sunday. Long plagued by low self-esteem, she was finally able to praise herself.
"It's like a dream," the 25-year-old said in tears after the race. Ohashi maintained a substantial lead into the final freestyle leg, winning a gold medal at her first Olympics.
Ohashi has often mentioned retirement, due to her confidence problems, and as the Olympics approached, her anxiety is said to have rapidly climbed.
With less than a month to go before the Games, Ohashi told her coach Norimasa Hirai that she wouldn't make the finals even if she participated in the Olympics. Hirai has been her coach since when Ohashi was at Toyo University.
Told by Hirai that she could choose not to compete [in the 400-meter individual medley, her main event], Ohashi is said to have thought hard about it overnight, feeling like she'd been unexpectedly given an escape route.
She thought, "I want to win an Olympic medal" and her hesitation disappeared.
"I'd never thought I could win a gold medal. I think I did well," Ohashi said after her triumph.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
