On June 26, 2016, Mr. Ryoichi Akamatsu, a third-year student of the Faculty of Education won fourth prize in the male high jump category at the 100th Japan National Championships held at Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Mr. Akamatsu was practicing hard at the University's Track Club, and successfully jumped 2.2 meters at the Championships.

On July 12, Mr. Akamatsu paid a courtesy call on President Hisataka Moriwaki at the President's Office and reported his winning. In the meeting, they talked about Mr. Akamatsu's daily training and his future goals. Mr. Akamatsu said, "While studying to become a senior high school teacher, I want to continue to practice for the next track and field competition in autumn." Professor Kenichi Harada of the Faculty of Education and a coach of the Track Club referred to Mr. Akamatsu's strenuous efforts and said, "Within limited time, equipment and facility, Mr. Akamatsu did his best and his efforts really paid off."

President Moriwaki gave the following encouragement to Mr. Akamatsu; "I would like to give you my utmost respect to your hard-working in spite of your busy study schedule. I sincerely hope that your efforts will bear a lot of fruits in the next competition in autumn and beyond."

On July 3, Mr. Akamatsu won third prize at the 69th Prince Chichibu Cup for West Japan Student Track & Field Championship (West Japan Intercollegiate Track & Field Games) held in Kyoto by producing a record of jumping 2.18 meters high. He also won first prize at the 84th Emperor's Cup for Japan Student Athletics Interscholastic Championships (Japan Intercollegiate Track & Field Games) in September last year. With his remarkable records in high-jumping, Mr. Akamatsu is selected to be one of the candidate athletes to receive special training for the Olympic Games.

Mr. Akamatsu's future success and achievements will become the center of attention for everyone for the days to come.