Bronze for Kanemaru on Last Day of World University Games

by Brett Larner

2009 World University Games men's 400 m gold medalist Yuzo Kanemaru of Hosei University brought the Japanese men's 4x400 m relay time home to bronze on the final day of competition at this year's games. Five-time national champion Kanemaru came from behind on the anchor leg to hold off Belgium by 0.15 seconds to take the medal after passable runs from teammates Hideyuki Hirose, Yusuke Ishitsuka and Kazuaki Yoshida. Australia won with a commanding 3-second lead over silver medalist Poland.

Another national champion, 800 m specialist Masato Yokota, came up empty handed in a tight race. Winner Sajad Moradi of Iran clocked 1:48.02 with only 0.02 seconds separating the next three runners. Yokota was the unlucky fourth man. While Kanemaru will go on to run in August's World Championships, Yokota's season is now effectively over.

Komazawa University's Tsuyoshi Ugachi was likewise out of luck in the slow and tactical men's 5000 m. Ugachi led the field through 2000 m running a pace of just 2:55 / km. Ugandan Joseph Chebet took over and clocked another 2:55 going through 3000 m before bringing it down to 2:49 heading up to 4000 m. From there it turned into an all-out dash and the two early leaders were left behind. Winner Halil Akkas of Turkey clocked an impressive 2:33 for the final kilometer, with the next two runners trailing by less than a second. Chebet finished 11th and Ugachi 13th out of the field of fifteen, nearly a minute off his PB.

2009 World University Games - Top Finishers
click event headers for complete results
Men's 5000 m
1. Halil Akkas (Turkey) - 14:06.96
2. Piedra Bayron (Ecuador) - 14:07.11
3. Elroy Gelant (South Africa) - 14:07.97
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13. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Komazawa Univ.) - 14:23.82

Men's 800 m - Final
1. Sajad Moradi (Iran) - 1:48.02
2. Goran Nava (Serbia) - 1:48.06
3. Fabiano Pecanha (Brazil) - 1:48.07
4. Masato Yokota (Japan) - 1:48.08

Men's 4x400 m Relay - Final
1. Australia - 3:03.67
2. Poland - 3:05.69
3. Japan - 3:06.46 (Hideyuki Hirose-Yusuke Ishitsuka-Kazuaki Yoshida-Yuzo Kanemaru)

Men's Long Jump - Final
1. Deok Hyeon Kim (South Korea) - 8.41 - PB
2. Ndiss Kaba Badji (Senegal) - 8.19
3. Marcin Starzak (Poland) - 8.10
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8. Yasuyuki Horiike (Japan) - 7.53

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved