While preparing for the judo competition at the 1988 Olympic Games, Kevin Asano hit a rut in his training.
He had met Tommy Kono, the legendary weightlifter and winner of three Olympic medals, including two golds. Whom better to reach out to for advice?
Recently, at the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner, Asano paid tribute to Kono, the Aiea resident who died last month at age 85 after a long illness. Asano said a pre-Olympics conversation with Kono about focus eased his anxiety, and helped him to the silver medal.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the words Tommy shared with me. He was unassuming and humble. He was also a great storyteller,” said Asano, now a judo sensei and pastor, and among many in the Hawaii sports community who counted Kono as a friend and mentor.
Memorial services for Tommy Kono are set for May 23 at Mililani Downtown Mortuary at 10 a.m., with inurnment at 2 p.m. at Punchbowl.
>> At the same event last week, Bryan Clay was inducted into the HSHOF. He regretted he had to leave Oahu early the next day for business; it prevented him from attending the state high school meet.
If he had, Clay would’ve seen one of his meet records fall, as Anthony La‘akea Kahoohanohano-Davis broke two marks while winning all three jumping events — including 24 feet, 10 inches to eclipse Clay’s standard of 24-61⁄2 in the long jump.
“Please tell him I said great job,” texted Clay, who went from Castle High School to winning gold in the 2008 Olympic decathlon (after taking the silver in 2004). “If he even has the slightest interest in the decathlon it would be a great field for him to get into. With just moderate scores in other events he really could be a good decathlete.”
Kahoohanohano-Davis’ triple jump of 49-103⁄4 is seventh-best among high school athletes nationally this year, and broke the 1986 record of Campbell’s Larry Khan-Smith, who did 49-33⁄4.
Khan-Smith was at the finals and congratulated Kahoohanohano-Davis. Also, Shane Victorino did the same, on Twitter, to Kamehameha sprinter Justin Desaki who broke his 100 meters record.
Kahoohanohano-Davis’ performance accounted for 381⁄2 of third-place Baldwin’s 66 points. But he’s more likely to follow Khan-Smith’s path as a football player than that of Clay.
He’s got elusive moves to go with that straight-ahead speed, leaping ability and explosiveness he shows on the track.
>> Political alliances and maneuvering resulted in the death of a bill to form a sports and entertainment commission, and the onus is on the Hawaii Tourism Authority more than ever to attract major sports events.
When confronted with losing a sizable chunk of its funding to a commission, the HTA announced it would search for consulting expertise in securing and staging events. Apparently a threat at its budget was what it took to get the HTA to ramp up in this area. Outsourcing may be expensive, but let’s see what comes of it.
And what of the Pro Bowl? We’ll know soon. The extended deadline for the state or the NFL to opt out of the 2017 game is May 31.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads
