Skip to main content

Cheyech Over Nakamura Again at Chugoku Jitsugyodan Meet (updated)

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/sports/Sp200905100138.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The men's and women's 5000 m were the highlights of the May 9 Chugoku Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet at the Miyoshi Sports Park Track and Field Grounds in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture. In the men's race, Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) ran 13:41.98 to take his first win at the meet, while Peter Kariuki and Samuel Ganga (both Team Mazda) rounded out a Kenyan sweep of the top three positions. Masayoshi Kuroda (Team Chugoku Denryoku) was 4th.

Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo) set a new meet record of 15:19.47 to defend her title from last year in the women's event. Cheyech's time was a PB by nearly eight seconds and the second-best in the world thus far this year. Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) was 2nd in 15:45.41. She was red-eyed and furious with herself after letting Cheyech slip away in the second half of the race. "I thought I could stay with her, but....." she trailed off in a strained voice.

The theme of Nakamura's training lately has been "to stick with it when it gets tough after halfway." However, 3000 m into the race she couldn't keep up the 73 seconds per lap pace she and Cheyech had maintained through the first half. Ten days ago at the Oda Memorial meet Nakamura ran a strong 15:23.99, just off her PB. Three days earlier in the Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000 m she ran with Cheyech through halfway but fell back to 2nd as the Kenyan took five seconds off her PB. "It was the same thing all over," Nakamura said through her tears after losing to Cheyech again. Planning to run on the track at the World Championships, this 23 year old could have put her poor showing down to having run three races in two weeks, but she offered no excuses: "Fatigue has nothing to do with it."

Cheyech will next face off against Nakamura's teammate Tomo Morimoto, the alternate for the World Championships women's marathon team, next weekend in the Chugoku Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet's 10000 m. All three Kenyans from the men's 5000 m will be back for the men's 10000 m, joined by Japanese runners including Naoki Okamoto, Hideaki Date and Shigeru Aburaya (all of Team Chugoku Denryoku).

2009 Chugoku Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet 5000 m - Top Finishers
Click division header for complete results in Japanese.
Women
1. Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo) - 15:19.47 - CR, PB
2. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) - 15:45.41
3. Megumi Sebata (Team Tenmaya) - 16:29.91
4. Rina Nomura (Team Uniqlo) - 16:31.35
5. Takako Yamada (Team Deodeo) - 16:33.86
6. Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) - 16:34.84
7. Maki Arai (Team Uniqlo) - 16:50.15
8. Yasuko Owatari (Team Uniqlo) - 16:51.71
9. Yuko Watanabe (Team Deodeo) - 16:57.98
10. Nami Hirata (Team Uniqlo) - 16:58.71

Men
1. Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) - 13:41.98
2. Peter Kariuki (Team Mazda) - 13:42.05
3. Samuel Ganga (Team Mazda) - 13:48.03
4. Masayoshi Kuroda (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:58.50
5. Naoya Hashimoto (Team Chudenko) - 14:04.78
6. Hiroshi Takahashi (Team JFE Steel) - 14:05.22
7. Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) - 14:06.22
8. Masahiro Okumura (Team Mazda) - 14:07.03
9. Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:08.44
10. Takeshi Ueno (Team JFE Steel) - 14:09.58
---
16. Laban Kagika (Team JFE Steel) - 14:18.11
18. Hideaki Date (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:21.73
21. Shigeru Aburaya (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:22.61

Labels

Labels:

Comments

dennis said…
That's not fair for Nakamura. Cheyech shouldn't be allowed to run in Japan. She just dominates over all the Japanese runners. The Kenyans federation should picked Cheyech for her ability to win 3 races.
May 11, 2009 at 4:09 AM
Brett Larner said…
You guys are the best.
May 11, 2009 at 8:17 AM
dennis said…
Is Nakamura the only one running the 10000 meter in Berlin? Who else is running?
May 13, 2009 at 10:30 AM
dennis said…
Rikuren should pick Miki Ohira, Madoka Ogi, Kayoko Fukushi, Yurika Nakamura, and Megumi Seike. And also Kauze Ogoshi. How come ogoshi doesn't run anymore? She ran 31:24 for 10000 meters one of the top 10 fastest 10000 meters time.
May 13, 2009 at 10:36 AM
dennis said…
Why does Cheyech run races in Japan? Is it because the competition in Kenya is too tough and she keep losing. I want to come to Japan and win races. The competition here looks really weak and easy.
May 13, 2009 at 10:54 AM
dennis said…
Is Rikuren gonna pick Nakamura for Berlin? Her performances are better then most japanese runners. Hitomi Niiya should get picked for winning the 5000 meters.
May 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM
dennis said…
Why do people keep saying Japananse people are the best distance runners. They have 10 Japnanese and only 1 kenyans and yet they can't take down cheyech!! Cheyech has so much potential because she beated Nakamura. Beating Nakamura is like beating a kenyan. I want to race against Nakamura.
May 18, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Takeshi Soh Reflects on 54 Years in the Sport on His Retirement as Asahi Kasei Head Coach

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Japan Names Marathon Teams for Tokyo World Championships

On Mar. 26 the JAAF named its women's and men's marathon teams for September's Tokyo World Championships. On the women's side the team has veterans Sayaka Sato and Yuka Ando off the strength of a runner-up finish for Sato in Nagoya this year and a win in Nagoya last year by Ando, and newcomer Kana Kobayashi , 23, who has risen quickly from being a fun runner at Waseda University last year to a 2nd-place finish in Osaka Women's this year. Paris Olympics 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki was named alternate after finishing 3rd behind Kobayashi in Osaka Women's. On the men's side the team is led by last year's Fukuoka International Marathon CR breaker Yuya Yoshida and this year's Osaka runner-up Ryota Kondo . The 3rd spot on the team is reserved for JMC Series winner Naoki Koyama , who hasn't cleared the 2:06:30 World Championships qualifying standard and has to wait for the May 4 qualifying deadline for confirmation that the 1184 points he has in the Roa...
1 comment
Read more

Evaluating the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV Awards

  The JAAF held the award ceremony for its Japan Marathon Championship Series IV last night in Tokyo, the whole thing streamed live on Youtube. The two-year series, in this case running from April, 2023 to March, 2025, scores marathoners on time and place in domestic races and high-level international races, with athletes' two best performances combining to give them their series rankings. Series winners score guaranteed places on the 2025 Tokyo World Championships team , with the top 8 women and men earning prize money: 1st: ¥6,000,000 (~$40,000 USD) 2nd: ¥3,000,000 (~$20,000) 3rd: ¥1,000,000 (~$6,700) 4th: ¥800,000 (~$5,300) 5th: ¥700,000 (~$4,700) 6th: ¥500,000 (~$3,300) 7th: ¥300,000 (~$2,000) 8th: ¥200,000 (~$1,300) Points for time are scored according to World Athletics scoring tables, with placing points based on races' designated level. Given the JAAF's financial interests in the big domestic races and the income stream from their TV broadcasts, the scoring system ...
Post a Comment
Read more