うたぴょんスポーツUta is usually the kid at our house logging distance on Strava and racing 1000m. But track and field isn't just one event, and she wanted to try the rest of it.
So this time the camera followed her through sprinting, jumping, and throwing, the other half of the sport she loves.
What happened that day
Uta is ten, born early in 2016, which in Japan means she's a bit younger than some of her classmates due to the April school-year cutoff. She's best known on this channel for distance running, she was ranked 10th nationally among third-grade girls in the 1000m for the 2024 school year. But she doesn't only run long.
This video shows her working through sprint starts, jumping drills, and throwing form, the parts of track and field that don't show up in her usual race clips. No specific meet or time attached to this one, it's more of a practice log than a competition report. She moved from one event to the next the way kids do, trying things out rather than chasing a number.
She's also been getting a bit of outside attention lately. She appeared briefly on Nスタ, a Japanese evening news program, alongside another young runner known online as Rangal-chan, around the 10:29 mark of that broadcast. It's a small thing, but it's new for her, being recognized outside of her own races.
We also started selling Uta T-shirts this year, which still feels strange to say out loud. She's ten and has a merch link. She mostly just thinks it's funny that her name is on a shirt.
What the parent thought about it
Watching her sprint and jump and throw, instead of just run, I was reminded that she's still a kid figuring out what her body can do, not a specialist yet. I don't think she needs to be. At ten, trying everything seems like the right amount of commitment.
She told me flat out, in her usual simple way, that she likes running and throwing and jumping, all of it, equally. Not one more than the others. I believe her. She doesn't talk about results much unless I ask. She talks about whether something felt good.
The national ranking is a nice number to have, and I won't pretend it doesn't make me proud. But it's a snapshot from one event, one age group, one year. It doesn't tell you much about a kid who still wants to try the long jump on a random afternoon just because it looks fun.
The TV appearance was a bigger deal to me than to her. She mentioned it once, briefly, and moved on to asking about dinner. I think that's healthy. I'd rather she stay a kid who likes track and field than become a kid who thinks she has to perform for an audience.
If your own kid is pulled toward one event, it might be worth letting them wander into the others for a day. You might learn something about what they actually enjoy, not just what they're good at.