Justin Gatlin and other top international athletes insist that playing different sports helps develop track and field athletes' potential.
Not that they directed their words to Japanese athletes, but maybe their suggestions should seriously be considered in order to elevate the nation's track and field level going forward.
Gatlin, the silver medalist in the men's 100-meter dash at last year's IAAF World Championships in Beijing, said that he played baseball and football, among other sports, growing up, joking that the former was "too slow" and the latter was "too violent."