Yes, in NHK’s “midnight anime discussion” back in the 90’s they have an interview with Tanaka Kouhei, he said in Gunbuster all the requests were to please makes something that sounds just like this or that, and for the training montage he was asked specifically to do something just like “chariots of fire”. Although he felt ashamed to rip stuff off, he said he did as told as he was still young and new to the business, he was beaming when he revealed he was able to sneak in his own original composition that slipped by Okada.