Tokyo Sports reported on the 8th that the Japan National Athletics Championships men's 10,000-meter event was held on May 7, which was also the Japanese athlete qualification competition at the Eugene Athletics World Championships in the United States held in July this year, but an unexpected scene occurred during the competition: two photographers employed by the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) broke into the track, causing the camera mechatronic cable to scratch the neck of the participating athlete Shinji Mita and affect the competition. In response to this matter, NHK issued a message on the evening of the 8th and apologized for it.
The camera wire scraped onto the neck of athlete Shinji Mita, pictured from social media
Tokyo Sports reported that after the first echelon athletes collided with the line, 2 photographers employed by NHK broke into the track and wanted to photograph the athletes who had completed the race, but these photographers had a small collision with the backward athletes who had not yet completed the schedule (snare). Although some of the athletes avoided it, the photographer broke into the track and caused the camera wire to scratch near the neck of the participating athlete Shinji Mita, causing him to lose his balance. Mita finished the game, but said he had neck pain after the game.
Tokyo Sports said that video clips of the incident were circulated on the Internet, and a large number of netizens criticized NHK for this incident, believing that this behavior was very "dangerous" and "excessive". Someone said, "You can see that NHK photographers only see athletes who have hit the line." The report also said that the relevant person in charge of the Japan Athletics Association said on the matter, "As the organizer, I sincerely apologize for this matter." ”
Screenshot of NHK report
According to the report, NHK also released a message in response on the evening of the 8th. NHK acknowledged that the photographer's intrusion into the track not only caused the wires of the media camera to scratch the necks of the participating athletes, but also affected the competition of multiple other athletes. Athletes who are scratched to the neck will undergo a detailed medical examination.
"This is something that should never have happened, and (we) take it very seriously. Apologies to the athletes themselves, as well as to their teams and others associated with the competition. Measures to prevent such incidents will be thoroughly implemented on the basis of detailed investigations. NHK said.