National team female handball player Shiori Nagata was supposed to retire this summer. But when the Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the capstone of her handball career was pushed back by a year.
"I was happy I could continue to play handball," she said cheerfully. "I have more time to improve my strength."
In last November and December's Women's Handball World Championship, she led the national team as captain and as a key defender. Japan grabbed 10th place, the best result since the number of competing teams reached the current 24 in 1997.
She expressed her disappointment for not winning a medal as she had pledged. However, she also said Japan and the world "do not have much level difference," referring to the close game in which Japan got beat by runner-up Spain by 31 to 33.
The Tokyo Olympics will be the women's national team's biggest event since the Montreal Games in 1976.
"If we win a medal at the Olympics, handball will become a major sport. It's a terrific opportunity," she said.
In January, she went to Denmark, one of the strongest countries in the world, and trained with a club team. The physical contact of the players was so intense that she thought their rough playing style "would be worth ejection in Japan." The experience of training with strong overseas players was meant to make her ready for the Olympics.
She returned to Japan in late February, but the spread of the novel coronavirus forced her to change her route to the Olympics. Even so, she said she was "happy the Olympics were postponed" instead of being canceled, as she had been prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Her role on the national team is a defender, a position that particularly requires physical strength. She needs to use her body to stop the opponents' offense. She increased muscle training sessions because she struggled against large foreign players at the world championship. Facing the challenges, she said, "I am on the upswing."
On May 18, her team at Omron resumed training. All 22 players gathered. It was supposed to start at the end of March, but had been suspended due to the spread of the infection. The situation reminded her of not being able to practice for about 10 days after the Kumamoto earthquake four years ago. "I realized again the happiness and gratitude of playing handball." she said.
She has persevered though the earthquake and the hardships caused by the virus. All she has to do now is to move forward step by step toward the final stage.
Shiori Nagata: 171 centimeters tall and weighing 75 kilograms, was born in Fukuoka in 1987. After graduating high school, she joined Omron of the Japan Handball League. She was selected for the national team in 2011 and won the best defender award in the 2013–2014 season.
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