- Japanese Olympian, Participants in Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 Gathered for First Time since Its Establishment -

Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies (TIAS) held an induction ceremony on Friday, September 29, to welcome a third class of students to the academy, formed with the support of the central government as part of its "Sport for Tomorrow" programme to further the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

(Photo: https://prw.kyodonews.jp/prwfile/release/M104627/201710126763/_prw_PI1fl_rVQrU76Q.png)

Now in its third year in session, TIAS welcomed a third batch of 19 students from 16 countries including Japan. The entering batch comprises a diverse gathering of talent and backgrounds. Members include not only affiliates of athletic conferences and educational institutions of various countries, but also the first Olympian to study at TIAS since its founding. Together with its second-batch students, the TIAS student body now includes participants in Rio de Janeiro 2016 as well as others headed for the PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 events. By combining their knowledge and experience from these games, TIAS has made further progress as a programme that trains the talent that will lead the future of international sport.

In recent years, the question of how cities and nations hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games can bestow their Olympic legacies on future generations has become a matter of increasingly intense interest. TIAS is a location in Japan where excellent students from around the world can gather and accomplish world-class Olympic scholarship. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rapidly approaching, we believe that the role of TIAS in training future talent is particularly crucial to creating an Olympic legacy.

"Each and every student here is part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic legacy," said TIAS Chairman Hisashi Sanada. "These are people who, together with TIAS, will take on the responsibility of building a next generation of sport." Sanada welcomed the third TIAS class, emphasizing their crucial role in developing international sporting human resources that are part of the Olympic legacy. He also shared the words of Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympics, and Jigoro Kano, the early chairman of the University of Tsukuba who strove to spread sport throughout Japan for almost a half century from early 1900s. "The experience at TIAS will provide a foundation for the leadership that will give impetus to future generations of international sport," said Japan Sports Agency Director-General Yoko Fujie, who attended the ceremony by special invitation. "The networks that you build at TIAS will serve you well when you become active in the future international world of sport," she added, welcoming the third entering batch of 19 students.

TIAS, which begins its third academic year in October, gathers diverse talent from countries around the world, producing graduates who complete individualized programme and a range of educational experiences preparing them for work with sporting institutions and related industries, both domestic and worldwide. It also fosters strong professional networks between graduates and current students. TIAS intends to further enhance its role as a platform supporting development of the international world of sport while gathering greater knowledge and experience in training top-level international sporting talent.

(Reference: Comments from students

https://prw.kyodonews.jp/prwfile/release/M104627/201710126763/_prw_PA1fl_Vq99MCOM.pdf)

About TIAS

As part of the Sport for Tomorrow programme put forward by Japan's central government to further the sport and Olympic/Paralympic movement, TIAS has full government support. The University of Tsukuba, the parent organization of TIAS, has been the driving force behind the Olympic movement in Japan, which dates back more than a century to Jigoro Kano, the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and chairman of the school that was the forerunner of the University of Tsukuba. In anticipation of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, TIAS is offering wide-ranging studies, encompassing Olympic and Paralympic education, including the state of the art in sport management, teaching and coaching, as well as interaction with select scholars from around the world. For details, please visit us at: http://tias.tsukuba.ac.jp/.