japan running news

A native of Tokamachi, Niigata, Tokyo Olympics men's marathon team member Yuma Hattori  sat for an interview on Sept. 13 about his thoughts on  his Olympic race and the future. "After every race up to this point, no matter what, I always felt that I'd lost to myself, that I hadn't been able to beat myself when I looked back at it afterward," he said. "At the Olympics this time my results where what they were, but I think this is the only race I've run where I can say that I defeated myself."  At the Olympics, Hattori ran in the lead group until mid-race. Then, announcers made the call: "Hattori is losing touch." Right around halfway he started to fall back from the leaders. "At around 22 or 23 km it felt like my footstrikes were getting heavier," he recalled. "Normally I'd try to stay with someone who was passing me and to match their rhythm, but I couldn't even do that, so I knew something was wrong." The tempe

a press release from the event organizers, the KGRR As the weather shifts to the pleasantness of early autumn we send you our warmest greetings, and we thank you all for your continued support of the KGRR's activities. After careful discussion with the host city of Inzai, Chiba, we have made the decision to cancel the 27th Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden.  As this race serves to select the greater Tokyo area's representative teams at October's 39th National University Women's Ekiden, we will instead hold a selection event as per the details below, without spectators and following all the COVID-19 protocols outlined in the JAAF's "Guidance for Resuming Athletics Competition." Please be aware that depending on the status of the pandemic this event may also be canceled. We ask for your understanding and cooperation with this decision. Kanto Region Selection Event for 39th National University Women's Ekiden Date:  Saturday, Sept. 29, 2021 Locat

Kento Kikutani  (Toyota Boshoku) added a bit of drama to the Vienna City Marathon even before the disqualification of its original winner. 9th at February's record-breaking Lake Biwa Marathon in a PB of 2:07:26, Kikutani was the only one of the four Japanese men in Vienna to go with the lead pack. He stayed with them well into the second half before dropping off, but as the lead quartet slowed to set up for the last kick he came back, just making contact with the back of the group before the move came. Kikutani went into fourth, but with less than 2 km to go he suddenly stopped, walked, and then appeared to stretch out a cramp of other issue.  He dropped back to 5th by the time he made it across the line in 2:10:37, still good enough for the fastest time by a Japanese man overseas since Kenta Murayama 's 2:08:56 at the 2019 Berlin Marathon. It was a promising start to the post-Tokyo 2020 continuum. When initial winner Derara Hurisa  (Ethiopia) was disqualified for wearing non

Speaking on Sept. 7 regarding the future uses of the New National Stadium built for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Koichi Hagiuda  indicated he is favorable toward the survival of the stadium's athletics track. In comments following a Cabinet meeting, Hagiuda said, "I think maintaining and using it in its current form as part of the Games' legacy would gain the most approval from the general public. We need to immediately discuss the question of whether a massive amount of money should be spent to convert the stadium to be used exclusively for ball sports." In 2017 the government had made the decision to remove the track following the Olympics and Paralympics and to dedicate the stadium to ball sports, but it now appears more likely that the stadium will continue to have dual use for both athletics and ball sports. Hagiuda had previously expressed support for the idea, saying last October, "O

With the government set to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country, as of Sept. 6 it is all but certain that the Oct. 17 Tokyo Marathon will be canceled.  The published guidelines for the 2021 race state, "In the event that a state of emergency has been issued one month prior to the event as part of the government's efforts against the coronavirus pandemic, or if the local government has issued a request not to hold the race, the Tokyo Marathon will be canceled." The current state of emergency in Tokyo runs through Sept. 12, but as it is expected to be extended 2~3 weeks it will still be in force on the 17th. This makes the chances that the Tokyo Marathon will go ahead virtually non-existent. The event's organizers, the Tokyo Marathon Foundation, plan to hold a board meeting in mid-September to make a final decision. The 2021 Tokyo Marathon was originally scheduled for Mar. 7, but in October last year in light of pandemic conditions the

After coming up empty-handed last month in the Sapporo Olympic marathons, Japan scored three marathon medals on the streets of Tokyo proper at today's final day of the Tokyo Paralympic Games . The T54 men's wheelchair marathon was the first race off the line, followed ten minutes later by the T54 women's wheelchair marathon and another ten minutes later by the men's and women's T12/T46 marathons. As cold rain started to pour down just as the race began, Swiss favorite Marcel Hug  went head-to-heat with surprise challenger Yong Zhang  of China in the T54 men's race. The pair steadily built a lead over the rest of the field until Hug, showing frustration at Zhang's refusal to lead, broke away on the series of hills just after 40 km to take gold in 1:24:02 to Zhang's 1:24:22. American Daniel Romanchuk  took the top spot in the chase pack, beating Canada's Brent Lakatos , who had trouble on a corner and lost ground early in the race, by 13 seconds for br

Day nine of Tokyo Paralympics athletics action brought the Games' final sessions on the track and the field in Tokyo's National Stadium. In the T20 men's long jump,   Kanta Kokubo  opened with a solid 7.01 m (+0.6) that immediately put him into 3rd place. But in the second round Australian Nicholas Hum  jumped  7.09 m (+0.6) to bump Kokubo down to 4th. Unable to improve on his opening attempt, Kokubo found himself still in 4th at the end of the competition.   World record holder and defending gold medalist Abdul Latif Romly  of Malaysia won gold with a second-round jump of 7.45 m (+0.6) before an injury on his fifth attempt forced him to withdraw. Greece's Athanasios Prodromou took silver with a jump of 7.17 m (+0.7), Hum improving to 7.12 m (+0.4) but staying in the bronze position. A member of Japan's bronze medal-winning universal relay team yesterday, Kengo Oshima  doubled back today in the T64 men's 200 m final.  Oshima ran 23.62, 8th of eight in the fin