is a Japanese former professional road and track cyclist. Considered one of Japan's most successful cyclists in his decade, Iijima has claimed a total of nine track cycling medals (two golds, three silver, and four bronze) at the Asian Championships, two silvers at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(1998 and 2002), and three national time trial titles at the Japanese Championships (1998, 2004, and 2005). He also represented his nation

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in three editions of the Olympic Games (2000, 2004, and 2008). He announced his retirement from professional cycling in October 2010 as a member of the team.

Racing career

Iijima was born in Hino, Tokyo.

Amateur years

Despite earning his first career medal in road racing at the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

in Bangkok, Thailand, Iijima made his official debut, as a 29-year-old, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he finished sixteenth in the men's points race with a total score of six sprint points. At the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

in Busan, Iijima paired up with Shinichi Fukushima to grab a silver medal in the men's madison on 11 points, trailing behind the South Korean duo Suh Seok-Kyu and 2000 Olympian

Cho Ho-Sung Cho Ho-sung (born 15 June 1974) is a South Korean former cyclist, who currently works as the team manager for UCI Continental team . At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and als ...

by an ample, twenty-seven point margin after ten intermediate sprint laps. In the same year, he outsprinted his brother Noriyuki Iijima and Hong Kong's Wong Kam Po to take the men's points race title at the Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. When he competed for the second time at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, Iijima managed to finish the men's points race successfully in sixteenth place with 13 points, matching his position from Sydney four years earlier in the process.

Professional career

Iijima turned professional as a road rider in 2005, and eventually stayed with Sumita Ravanello Pearl Izumi for one cycling season, before he left himself without a contract. He was also crowned the winner Japanese National Time Trial Championships in the same year. As a two-year free agent, Iijima redrafted his efforts to edge out Iran's Hossein Askari and Hong Kong's Cheung King Wai for his second career gold in the men's point race at the

2006 Asian Cycling Championships The 2006 Asian Cycling Championships took place at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall Velodrome, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 9 to 16 September 2006. Medal summary Road Men Women Track Men Women Medal table References cyclingnews r ...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, adding a bronze in the men's time trial to his career resume. Later that year, at the

in Doha, Iijima narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the points race (a total of ten) and sixth in the men's road race (3:45:05). Eight years after his first Olympics, Iijima qualified for his third Japanese squad, as a 37-year-old and a cycling team captain, in the men's points race at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing by receiving a berth from the

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer I ...

Track World Rankings. Iijima picked up a total of 23 points, and lapped the field once to score a career-high eighth place in a sprint race. Strong results on his third Olympic bid landed him a spot on the pro cycling team for three annual seasons. At the

2009 East Asian Games ) , Host city = Hong Kong , Teams participating = 9 , Athletes participating = 2,377 , Events = 262 events in 22 sports , Opening ceremony = December 5, 2009 , Closing ceremony = December 13, 2009 , Officially opened by = State Councilor L ...

in Macau, Iijima delivered the Japanese foursome of Kazuo Inoue, Kazuhiro Mori and Hayato Yoshida a gold-medal time of 1:38:38.84 in the men's team time trial, finishing ahead of the Chinese team by more than two minutes.

Major results

;1998 : 1st MaillotJapón

Time trial, National Road Championships : 2nd Road race,

;1999 : 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships ;2001 : 1st Stage 4 Perlis Open ;2002 : Asian Track Championships ::1st Points race ::2nd Elimination race : 2nd Madison,

: 3rd Points race, UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Moscow ;2003 : 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships ;2004 : Asian Track Championships ::1st Points race ::2nd Elimination race : 1st MaillotJapón

Time trial, National Road Championships ;2005 : 1st MaillotJapón

Time trial, National Road Championships : Asian Track Championships ::3rd Points race ::3rd Team pursuit ;2006 : Asian Cycling Championships ::1st Points race ::3rd Time trial :

Tour de East Java The Tour de East Java is a professional road bicycle racing stage race, that was held in East Java, Indonesia from 2005 to 2014. The race was sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race as part of the UCI Asia Tou ...

::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Stage 3 Tour de Kumano : 1st Stage 3

Tour d'Indonesia The Tour de Indonesia is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Java, Indonesia since 2004. The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race as part of the UCI Asia Tour. History Several ...

: 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships :

::4th Points race ::6th Road race ;2007 : 1st Stage 1 Jelajah Malaysia : 1st Stage 3 Tour de Kumano : Asian Track Championships ::2nd Madison ::3rd Points race ;2008 : 3rd Team pursuit, Asian Track Championships : 8th Points race, Olympic Games ;2009 : 1st Team time trial, East Asian Games : 1st Stage 1 Jelajah Malaysia : National Road Championships ::2nd Time trial ::7th Road race : 10th Overall Tour de Okinawa ;2010 : National Road Championships ::3rd Time trial ::8th Road race : 10th Points race, UCI Track Cycling World Championships ;2012 : 8th JBCF Simofusa Criterium ;2013 : 2nd JBCF Makuhari Criterium

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iijima, Makoto 1971 births Living people Japanese male cyclists Japanese track cyclists Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1994 Asian Games Cyclists at the 1998 Asian Games Cyclists at the 2002 Asian Games Cyclists at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in cycling People from Hino, Tokyo Olympic cyclists for Japan Sportspeople from Tokyo Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games