Football: FC Tokyo bring back former Japan defender Muroya
Muroya spent five seasons with Hannover after moving to Germany in 2020. FC Tokyo are currently 16th in the 20-team first-division table.
"I'll play hard, with conviction, to play a big part in FC Tokyo's history," the 31-year-old said in a statement.
Muroya played for Japan at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Nyjah Huston targets Olympic skateboarding gold at LA28
Nyjah Huston, widely regarded as the greatest street skateboarder of all time, has set his sights on Olympic gold when the sport returns to its roots at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. Huston, 30, represented the United States in the sport's Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and again at Paris 2024. He will be 33 when the Games return to Southern California but says his drive remains undiminished. "I'm stoked for the LA Olympics. I'm definitely going to try my best to be there. I plan to be there," Huston said in an interview at his home in Laguna Beach. "It helps having the extra motivation that it's in Southern California where I've lived for so long and where skateboarding really thrives. It's SoCal living." Born in Northern California, Huston first stepped on a board at the age of three, won his first competition by 10, and now boasts a trophy room bursting with awards including multiple gold medals from the SLS World Championships and the X Games. Inspired by Los Angeles skateboarding videos, Huston moved to Southern California at 15 and remains deeply connected to the region. "There couldn't be a better time for the Olympics to be in LA. It's going to be sick," he said. Reflecting on his Olympic experiences, Huston acknowledged the unique pressures athletes face at the Games and admitted he was unprepared for the intensity in Tokyo. "It was the first time ever that we're skating for our country, which means a lot to me, and was something that was totally new to skateboarding," he said. After a disappointing result in Tokyo, Huston adjusted his approach for Paris, where he captured a bronze medal. "I tried to go into Paris more with an open mind and said 'Let's just see how it goes,'" he said. "I did mess up on my first run, but then that made me try harder tricks in my second run. I really went for it and put it all on the line. It ended up working out." Skateboarding culture Despite skateboarding's growing presence in the Olympics, Huston maintains that the sport's essence is rooted in its lifestyle and community. "In my eyes, skateboarding is more of a lifestyle than it is a sport, more of a way of life," said Huston. "The most true and the most important side of skateboarding is going out and having fun with my buddies, skating around different spots around the city, challenging myself, learning new tricks, filming video parts," he said. "And then big moments like the Olympics are just a plus on top of that." Huston, who has his own skateboard brand, Disorder Skateboards, has also observed the sport's global expansion. "I have noticed it a lot since the Olympics in places like Japan and China," he said. "There weren't that many skate fans out there. But now we've had some contests there the past few years and it is growing more and more." Huston will mark his 20th year competing at the X Games next year and was recently announced as a Founder Athlete for the X Games League (XGL), a team-based circuit set to launch next summer. "X Games League is about creating more opportunity for skateboarders and the action sports athletes," he said. Looking ahead, Huston remains focused on longevity. "One of my goals in life, and in skateboarding, is to simply skate for as long as possible," he said. "I want to be out there grinding rails when I'm 60, 70 years old."
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump to sign order creating Olympics task force ahead of 2028 games
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, an administration official said. The task force, made up of members from Trump's cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said. It also will "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media," the official said in an email. The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the 2026 soccer World Cup, which is being held across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. "During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America's bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday. Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule. The city also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. "The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,' Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.
Yomiuri Shimbun
12 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Central League to adopt DH from 2027
For the baseball purists who like to see pitchers bat, the last holdout has succumbed to modern times. Japan pro baseball's Central League will adopt the designated hitter starting with the 2027 season, the league decided at its board meeting on Monday, a half-century after the 'position' was first introduced into Japan. The historic move shows the league's acceptance of the global trend, and will influence team strategy while also reducing the burden on players. The designated hitter, who bats in place of the pitcher in the batting lineup, was first introduced by Major League Baseball's American League in 1973. Japan's Pacific League followed suit in 1975, but the Central League resisted make the change, preferring the 'tradition of nine-man baseball' and the subtleties of player usage and other tactical decisions. However, the DH has become the mainstay in recent years, and is used at the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics. It was fully introduced in the major leagues in 2022 when the National League adopted it. Looking at the amateur game in Japan, the nation's top university league — the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League — does not currently use the DH, but has decided to introduce it next spring, meaning that all 27 college leagues under the Japan University Baseball Federation will be in alignment. The Japan High School Federation decided on Friday to adopt the DH next year. At the Central League board meeting on Monday, board members from all six clubs unanimously decided in favor of the DH. Kiyoaki Suzuki, director of the Central League board and the chief of the Hiroshima Carp team office, said at a press conference on Monday that the high school federation's decision had great impact. 'We felt we had to make the decision when the high school federation took the step,' Suzuki said. To give the teams time to adjust their rosters, the DH will start from the 2027 season. The league plans to adopt the so-called 'Ohtani rule' in which a player doubling as the starting pitcher and DH can continue as DH after being taken out from the mound. 'It is a significant step forward [for Japan pro baseball], now that the Central League has made a decision to take up the challenge of the new form of baseball,' Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Sadayuki Sakakibara said.
