Toshiki: Congratulations on your silver medal. How do you feel now?
Yamamoto: It's a really disappointing result, and although we really did fight well as a team, I feel like the difference between us and France was in the small details, and whether or not we can score that one point in a small detail will make the difference between whether or not we can win the gold medal at the Olympics, so I feel like we need to make some adjustments to those small details in our play before the Olympics.
Toshiki: What exactly do you mean by the details?
Yamamoto: As a libero, I really felt that we could have made a little improvement by receiving the ball closer to the net, or by controlling a dig a little more on the court, or by improving the quality of free balls. Of course, I feel that this is something that not only I but the whole team needs to work on.
Toshiki: What were your defensive aims and strategies today?
Yamamoto: Just like yesterday, I thought that our opposite player, Patry, would be the key today, so I picked up two of his line (straight spikes). My challenge was to get him to hit the ball in my direction and then to hold back the player on the left. I was able to hold back Klevenot today, but we were beaten quite a bit by Tille, who came on from the bench, so I think another challenge will be how we respond when a different player like that comes on.
Toshiki: In the third set, after the score gap widened, the substitute players came onto the court and it looked like they might turn the game around and take the set. What was happening on the court at that time?
Yamamoto: I was on the court from the beginning, so I told the substitute players, "There's nothing we can do when we're at a disadvantage like this, so let's just go for it and have fun, and go for it once we've scored." They played freely, and I felt like each and every player really brought out the best in them.
Toshiki: Since you won the Best Libero award, can we say that this time it was Yamamoto who won, not Grebennikov (the world's number one libero from France)? (laughs)
Yamamoto: I don't know if I won or not (laughs), but I'm very happy to receive the award. I couldn't have achieved this alone. I think the biggest factor was Ogawa, who has been competing with me until now, and we've practiced together every day, improving each other. Ogawa was the happiest person to win the award, so I was really overcome with emotion.
TOSHIKI: There is less than a month left until the Paris Olympics. What areas would you like to work on, especially as an individual, in this short time?
Yamamoto: Personally, I want to make sure I don't miss any intervals (between the receivers) when it comes to reception, and I think there are more balls I can pick up on the defensive side, so if I can pick up even one or two more balls in those situations and connect them to an attack, there are a lot of people who can score points, so I guess my challenge is to improve the accuracy of the parts that I can control.
Toshiki: Good luck. Thank you.
Photo: Author
English 
Japanese