Emi Akimoto

Akimoto emerged as one of Japan's top female sprinters while still a high school student in the mid-1970s. At the 1975 Japan international indoor meet, she was second in the 50 metres, beaten only by two-time Olympian Mamie Rallins of the United States despite the two sharing the same time.[2] She won her first national title in the 100 m hurdles at the 1977 Japan Championships in Athletics. Her time of 14.09 seconds was the fastest automatically-timed win at the competition at that point.[3] Her first medal for Japan at a major tournament followed at the 1977 Pacific Conference Games held in Canberra. She finished third behind America's Deby LaPlante and Cheryl Boswell of Australia.[4]

After losing the national title to Tamie Motegi in 1978, her breakthrough year came in the 1979 track and field season. She set a championship record of 13.81 seconds to regain her Japanese crown.[3] She was her country's leading hurdles entrant at the 1979 Asian Athletics Championships, held on home turf in Tokyo, and won the gold medal with a championship record of 14.17 seconds, comfortably ahead of China's Dai Jianhua and her compatriot Motegi.[5] A global debut followed at the 1979 IAAF World Cup in Montreal, where she placed eighth as Asia's representative.[6]

Akimoto defended her national title in 1980, then again in 1981, improving further to 13.71 seconds.[3] She won another bronze medal at the Pacific Conference Games that year – one of only three Japanese women ton win an individual medal there, alongside high jumper Hisayo Fukumitsu and fellow hurdler Yumiko Aoi.[4] She remained unchallenged at continental level, repeating her hurdles victory at the 1981 Asian Athletics Championships (again held in Tokyo) in a new championship record of 13.78 seconds ahead of China's Dia.[5] Another appearance for Asia came as a result at the 1981 IAAF World Cup, where she again placed eighth.[7]

Her career peak came at the 1982 Asian Games. Dia of China entered as defending champion but two Japanese women finished ahead of her: Akimoto claimed the gold in a lifetime best of 13.63 seconds, trailed by Chizuko Akimoto.[8] She then teamed up with Emiko Konishi, Hiromi Isozaki and Junko Yoshida to form the Japanese women's 4×100 metres relay quartet. The team comprised some of the best sprinters of the region: Konishi was the reigning 200 m Asian champion, Isozaki had won a double sprint at the Asian Games, while Yoshida was the reigning 400 m Asian champion.[5] The team won the gold medal in an Asian record of 45.13 seconds.[8][9]

Akimoto's win-streak at national level extended to 1983, meaning she had gone unbeaten in five finals at the event.[3] In her last year of international competition she competed under her married name: Emi Sasaki (Japanese: 佐々木恵美). She had a third consecutive win at the 1983 Asian Athletics Championships, equalling her time from the Asian Games to set a championship record, despite a strong −2.0 m/s wind. This was almost two tenths of a second faster than runner-up Liu Huajin of China, who would go on to win the title herself two years later.[5] Akimoto was one of three Asian entrants in the women's 100 m hurdles at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics, alongside her traditional rival Dia and Lin Yueh-Hsiang (the bronze medallist at the Asian Championships).[10] With a run of 13.73 seconds in the quarter-finals, Akimoto was the best performer among them, but this left her in eighth and she was eliminated.[11]

She made her final contribution to the Japanese record book with a time of 7.19 seconds for the indoor 50 metres hurdles in 1986. This mark remains unbeaten.[12] Following her retirement, she has remained connected with athletics and worked with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations to promote the sport among children.[13]