Skip to main content

Matsumiya Doubles With 5000 m Victory

by Brett Larner



Men`s 5000 m national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica-Minolta) scored his second victory of the 2008 Japanese National Track and Field Championships, winning the 5000 m in 13:47.81. Although his winning time was far from the Olympic A-standard, Matsumiya came to the competition holding a valid A-standard and thus is guaranteed a spot on the Beijing Olympics team in the 5000 m to go with the spot he holds in the 10000 m.

The real story, however, was not Matsumiya`s win but the return of Waseda University senior Kensuke Takezawa. Takezawa, one of the most talented runners Japan has ever produced, has been seriously injured since December and has not raced since January`s Hakone Ekiden. He was on the start list for the National Championships 10000 m but did not run. His appearance in the 5000 m caused audible surprise within Todoroki Stadium. Takezawa ran a conservative race, staying far back in the pack and not moving up until the final kilometer. With 200 m to go he was nearly 50 m behind Matsumiya, but Takezawa was able to unleash his famous kick and almost caught the unwitting leader, finishing less than 2 seconds behind. While only Matsumiya is guaranteed a place on the Beijing Team, Takezawa is likely to be named to the team as well on the strength of both his A-standard qualifier and the quality he showed in a comeback race in less than full fitness.

The other man in the field holding a 5000 m Olympic A-standard, 10000 m 3rd place finisher Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) showed signs of fatigue from the 10000 m, finishing 12th in 13:59.32. Mitsuya, a teammate and training partner of half marathon world record holder Samuel Wanjiru, scored only a B-standard in the 10000 m.

Leader`s Splits
1 km: 2:43.1 2 km: 5:35.6 3 km: 8:28.5 4 km: 11:10.02 5 km: 13:47.81

Top Finishers
1. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica-Minolta): 13:47.81 (selected for Olympic team)
2. Kensuke Takezawa (Waseda Univ.): 13:49.73
3. Osamu Ibata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 13:51.82
4. Takuya Fukatsu (Komazawa Univ.): 13:53.66
5. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 13:54.71
6. Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo): 13:55.17
7. Keita Akiba (Team Komori): 13:55.31
8. Tomohiro Seto (Team Kanebo): 13:55.85
9. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Komazawa Univ.): 13:57.46
10. Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko): 13:57.81

Complete results are available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more