Skip to main content

Berlin World Championships - Day Three

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet.

by Brett Larner

2009 men's 10000 m national champion Yuki Iwai ran in the 10000 m on the third day of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Having experienced problems with his right Achilles tendon since winning the national title in June, Iwai was visibly wincing during his warmup and while stretching on the starting line and he fared accordingly in the race. In last place in the field of 30 after only a lap, Iwai soon lost contact with the group and was overtaken by the leaders twice in the course of the race which saw winner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a new World Championships record of 26:46.31, all three medalists break 27 minutes, and the top 14 set season or lifetime bests.

In light of Rikuren's questionable decision to omit 27:38 runner Yuki Sato from the team Iwai was the sole Japanese runner, and unlike the five athletes who dropped out of the race he undoubtedly felt pressure to finish no matter what. Gutting out his last-place 29:24.12 was an impressive testament to his strength, but the pain he was obviously experiencing suggested he may have done more serious injury. What comes next for this talented runner remains to be seen.

With the withdrawal of two-time Olympic medalist Koji Murofushi from the men's hammer throw the only other Japanese athletes active on Day Three were women's 400 m hurdlers Satomi Kubokura and Sayaka Aoki. Kubokura, the 2009 national champion, missed making the second round by only 0.18 seconds. Aoki, a university star in her first season as a professional, was among the leaders when she caught her trailing leg on the fourth hurdle and fell face first. She got up and continued to run but finished over six seconds back from the next runner ahead of her.

2009 World Championships - Top Results
Men's 10000 m
1. Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - 26:46.31 - CR
2. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 26:50.12 - SB
3. Moses Masai (Kenya) - 26:57.39 - SB
4. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) - 27:15.94 - PB
5. Bernard Kipyego (Kenya) - 27:18.47 - SB
6. Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 27:22.28 - PB
7. Micah Kogo (Kenya) - 27:26.33 - SB
8. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:37.99 - SB
9. Kidane Tadasse (Eritrea) - 27:41.50 - PB
10. Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam (Ethiopia) - 27:44.04 - SB
-----
25. Yuki Iwai (Japan) - 29:24.12

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Anonymous said…
Not that it really matters, but I think it`s only a seasonal best for Galen Rupp (PB of 27:33 in 2007).

Joe
Brett Larner said…
Whoops, typo, thanks.

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Sprinter Shoji Tomihisa Retires From Athletics at 105

A retirement ceremony for local masters track and field legend Shoji Tomihisa , 105, was held May 13 at his usual training ground at Miyoshi Sports Park Field in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Tomihisa began competing in athletics at age 97, setting a Japanese national record 16.98 for 60 m in the men's 100~104 age group at the 2017 Chugoku Masters Track and Field meet. Last year Tomihisa was the oldest person in Hiroshima selected to run as a torchbearer in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the relay on public roads was canceled, and while he did take part in related ceremonies his run was ultimately canceled. Tomihisa recently took up the shot put, but in light of his fading physical strength he made the decision to retire from competition. Around 30 members of the Shoji Tomihisa Booster Club attended the retirement ceremony. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from them Tomihisa in turn gave them a colored paper placard on which he had written the characters