Kishane Thompson, not long after racing to the silver medal in the men’s 100-meter final at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday night, held up his phone to show off the anime character on the back.
“Hold on,” he said as he suddenly reached inside a Team Jamaica backpack. He searched around for a few seconds before smiling when he wrapped his hands around his target: a different phone with a different anime character emblazoned on the case. “If you want a picture, he said, take this.”
Anime is one of Japan’s largest cultural exports and seemingly everywhere these days — including in the minds of some of the fastest men in the world on one of the biggest nights in their sport.
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