On February 6, Beijing time, Mima Ito’s mother, Minari Ito, posted a latest photo of Mima Ito on social platforms. At the critical juncture of fate, Mima Ito put her hands together and worshiped the Buddha devoutly. Her beautiful earrings and bright manicure also showed her 23-year-old girlish heart. Officially losing to Paris on February 5th is a major life event for Olympic champion Mima Ito. Minari Ito has replaced the photo of Mima Ito with the latest profile picture. Perhaps, for Mima Ito, all this is fate.
In the past few days, everyone is very concerned about where Mima Ito will go in the future. There are also many voices in the Japanese media speculating that the post-2000 Olympic champion may retire. Relevant coaches of the Japanese table tennis team also said that they hope to see him make a comeback at the next Los Angeles Olympics. Many Chinese fans also expressed their personal opinions that Mima Ito could consider switching to another country to compete in the Olympics.
1. Transferring citizenship? Beautiful legend
In the first half of 2016, the National Table Tennis Team Rio roster was released. When the world’s number one Liu Shiwen was not selected for the singles, many fans indignantly supported Liu Shiwen’s change of nationality. This time, Mima Ito, because she was at a disadvantage in the competition with Miu Hirano and Miwa Harimoto, ultimately failed to be selected for Paris. Mima Ito, who is very popular in the eyes of netizens, was also suggested to change her nationality.
If you don’t leave me here, I will leave you alone. This is in line with the temper of us ordinary netizens. But experienced fans know that this can only be a good wish. The ITTF's regulations for players who change nationalities used to be that they could play in the Olympics on behalf of their new club after five years. From January 1, 2019, this period has been shortened to two years.
What’s more important is that changing nationality to compete in the Olympics must be approved by the individual world organization and must also obtain permission from the association of the original nationality. In the 1990s, the "rebel" Utsuki Reika, who was as famous as Tomoe Koyama, received Japanese citizenship in 1995, but the Chinese Softball Association did not send her a letter of consent, and Utsuki Reika failed to participate in the Atlanta Olympics.
Mima Ito is first of all Japanese, and she won three gold, silver and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics. The Japan Table Tennis Association will not let her go easily. Her current playing performance is not good, but she still has a lot of advertising endorsements and so on. In Japan, she can live a comfortable life just by relying on the halo of Olympic champion.
Fighting in Los Angeles again in two or four years?
Mima Ito will only be 24 years old in October this year, which means that he will not be 28 years old by the next Los Angeles Olympics. The coach of the Japanese national team believes that based on her age, she has the theoretical possibility of competing in Los Angeles. However, based on the current situation of Mima Ito and the degree of involution of Japanese women's table tennis, this possibility is only theoretical at present.
Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano were both born in 2000, and Japanese female table tennis star Miwa Harimoto was born in 2008. There will be no big surprises for these three in the next three or four years. It will be very difficult for other players to challenge their absolute main force status. Moreover, Miyu Nagasaki, Miyu Kihara and others are also growing, while Mima Ito has been on a downward slope for three consecutive years since Tokyo.
The careers of first-line athletes cannot always be smooth sailing. After encountering a trough, only a few people can get up, and many people just accept their fate. Mizutani Hayabusa explained the reasons why Ito Mima was not selected for Paris very well. The main reasons were that her lack of technical progress had been thoroughly studied by outsiders, and she had a bad mentality and various resistance to the Olympic selection system from the beginning. These two The worsening situation over the past three years is completely traceable.
3. Perish or retire?
Objectively speaking, it is very rare for table tennis to reach the level of Olympic champion. Moreover, Mima Ito is the only one in history to win all gold, silver, and bronze medals in one Olympic Games, even if she retires at the same place, waiting for future generations to catch up.
If the standard is lowered, Mima Ito is currently ranked 10th in the world in women's singles and the second-highest ranked player in Japan. How to adjust her mentality and actively change herself and adjust herself is the key to whether she can regain her sports youth. Mima Ito was also selected for the Japanese team roster for the Busan World Table Tennis Championships starting on February 16. However, according to a coach of the Japanese team, she may choose not to participate because she is in a bad mood.As for how her career will go in the future, it depends on the results of her self-adjustment during this period.
