Skip to main content

Yuki Sato All-Time Japanese #2 for 3000 m at Memorial Leon Buyle (updated with video)

by Brett Larner



Unstoppably talented in university, Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) has had an off-and-on career since joining the corporate world last year. Last year he ran 3 seconds off the Japanese national record for 10000 m to become the all-time #3 Japanese man at that distance, but then went on to miss out on qualifying for the Berlin World Championships. On July 3rd this year he pulled off one of his best accomplishments so far, running 7:44.63 for 3000 m at the Memorial Leon Buyle meet in Belgium. Sato finished 3rd behind Kenyans John Kemboi Cheruiyot and Yusef Biwott, the top two 3000 m runners thus far in 2010. His time, a PB by 9 seconds, was less than 3 seconds off Toshinari Takaoka's 11 year-old national record of 7:41.87 and shows that he is in excellent form as he kicks off a summer stint on the European circuit. A similar improvement over 5000 m would put Sato 1 second off the relatively weak Japanese national record of 13:13.20, a mark which may well fall when Sato runs the 5000 m at next weekend's KBC Nacht meet.



Sato's performance led those of the large contingent of Japanese athletes at the Memorial Leon Buyle meet, but there were few other noteworthy results. Sato's teammate Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) also broke the 8 minute mark but finished only 10th in 7:59.81, a sizeable PB nevertheless. Multiple 1500 m national champion Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) was 3rd in the women's 1500 m in 4:16.14, while women's 3000 m SC national record holder Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC) was 8th in the same heat.

2010 Memorial Leon Buyle Results
click here for complete results
Men's 3000 m
1. John Kemboi Cheruiyot (Kenya) 7:40.11
2. Yusef Biwott (Kenya) - 7:40.49
3. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 7:44.63 - PB
4. Nathan Lagat (Kenya) - 7:48.03
5. Philipp Pflieger (Germany) - 7:55.99 - PB
-----
10. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 7:59.81 - PB
11. Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 8:03.84 - PB
15. Hiroyoshi Umegae (Team NTN) - 8:13.84

Women's 1500 m
1. Mari Jarvehpaa (Finland) - 4:13.44
2. Gabriele Anderson (USA) - 4:15.71
3. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) - 4:16.14
-----
8. Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC) - 4:19.38

Men's 1500 m A-heat
1. Mark Matusak (USA) - 3:40.41
2. Andreas Vojta (Austria) - 3:40.79
3. Hassan Khallouki (Morocco) - 3:40.93
-----
13. Fumikazu Kobayashi (Team NTN) - 3:44.29
15. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 3:49.82

Men's 1500 m B-heat
1. Ian Cronin (USA) - 3:43.81
2. Brian Cantero (France) - 3:44.17
3. Jordan Horn (USA) - 3:44.40
-----
6. Masahiro Takaya (Japan) - 3:44.68
12. Hiroshi Ino (Japan) - 3:55.02

Men's 800 m A-heat
1. Jonathan Johnson (USA) - 1:46.99
2. Azzedine Boudjemaa - 1:47.11
3. Prince Mumba - 1:47.15
-----
5. Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 1:47.56

Men's 800 m B-heat
1. Abdelmajid Touil (Algeria) - 1:49.07
2. Ali Hamid (Belgium) - 1:49.26
3. Matthias Stubbe (Belgium) - 1:49.69
-----
6. Hikaru Miyazaki (Japan) - 1:50.43

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

hotboykevin said…
Did Akaba break Fukushi's record.
July 4, 2010 at 12:52 PM
Brett Larner said…
Akaba did not run in the Memorial Leon Buyle meet.
July 4, 2010 at 12:59 PM
hotboykevin said…
Have Sapporo half marathon results?
July 4, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Brett Larner said…
Sapporo had not even happened yet when you left these comments.
July 4, 2010 at 3:45 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more