Olympics: Schoolgirl Fencer's Dream Begins With a Sponge Sword

Schoolgirl fencer Misaki Emura became hooked on the swashbuckling sport after picking up a sponge sword as a toddler. Now, as Tokyo celebrates the 50th anniversary Friday of the first Asian Olympic games, she has her sights on 2020.

These days cutting a more fearsome sight swishing a metal blade, the 15-year-old has little doubt she will win a gold medal for Japan at the Tokyo Olympics.

"Fencing is my whole life," Emura told AFP in an interview. "My dream was to win an Olympic gold but after Tokyo was named 2020 host that dream became even clearer. To get the chance to win a gold medal in Japan makes me even more determined. I'm confident I'll do it."

Tokyo's first Olympics, in 1964, opened 50 years ago to the day, and marked Japan's emergence as an economic power.

However, nostalgia has little place in modern sport and Japan is banking on its fresh-faced stars of tomorrow to trigger a rush of gold in six years' time.

Japanese Olympic bosses have set a target of 30 gold medals and third place overall behind superpowers the United States and China, investing heavily in youth as they hope for the Midas touch in 2020.

They have already begun identifying future gold medallists -- many of whom, like Emura, whose parents both represented Japan at fencing, live and train at Tokyo's elite National Training Centre under the close supervision of scientists and nutritionists.

"There are things you have to live without," said Emura, who won team gold at the Youth Olympics in August and whose father, Koji, fenced for Japan at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

"Playing with friends, eating what you want. I've put on muscle so I can't wear fancy clothes. I have to be careful not to eat too many sweets.

"My dad competed at the Olympics but he didn't win a medal so I want to win gold for him -- and for my mum, who has given up so much to support me."

- Political tensions -

Japan finished third in the medals table behind the US and the Soviet Union as hosts of Asia's first Olympics in 1964, which were overshadowed politically by the removal of Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader and China's first nuclear weapons test.

The Japanese government's unveiling of the iconic Bullet Train for the Games symbolised the country's rise from humiliating defeat in World War II to its emergence as a major international player, and future heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier was among those who shot to fame in Tokyo.

For Japan to replicate third place, however, and to win 30 gold medals in 2020, will take a Herculean effort after finishing a disappointing eleventh -- with just seven golds -- at the London Games two years ago.

"If you don't set yourself those goals, you have no hope of achieving them," Kozo Tashima, vice chief of Japan's Asian Games delegation, told AFP. "We want to win a medal in every Olympic sport.

"We will analyse the results of the Asian Games and study proposals from every sports federation before allocating budgets.

"If there are areas we think require more investment, we will distribute extra funds. The system has been in place for some time with the aim of winning medals at the 2020 Olympics."

Japan finished third behind powerhouse China and hosts South Korea at the Asian Games, the regional multisport gathering that finished earlier this month.

It is an event in which they have had athletes such as marathon runner Naoko Takahashi and swimmer Kosuke Kitajima break through before going on to achieve Olympic success and superstardom.

- Tip of the iceberg -

Kitajima's namesake Kosuke Hagino, still just 20, won seven medals in the pool, including four golds, to be named athlete of the Games, but Tashima insisted he could be the tip of the iceberg for Japan.

"There might be even stronger athletes coming through six years from now," he said. "The elite academy is producing world-class athletes in fencing, wrestling, table tennis, shooting, swimming and diving.

"We're not just plonking athletes in the mixer for 2020. Look at the France team which won the World Cup in 1998 -- a product of the Clairefontaine academy. You have to do the groundwork. There is no magic formula. We're working desperately hard in order to reach our targets."

Emura is living proof, facing six more punishing years before a shot at the ultimate dream.

"I can't imagine me at 21," she said with a grin. "There will be a lot of pressure and nerves but I just want to win that medal -- it will definitely be the gold one."