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by Brett Larner
On the first day of track and field competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Aug. 17, Japan's Moe Kyuma and Kazuto Nishiike easily advanced to the A-final in the girls' and boys' 3000 m races. In the opposite approach to most championships, all entrants in the Youth Olympics Games 3000 m competed in the qualifying round at the same time, with the results dividing the field into several different final rounds. Only those in the A-final are elligible to receive a medal.
Kyuma, holder of both the fastest personal and season bests in the girls' field, ran comfortably in the qualifying round to finish 2nd in 9:35.33. Qualifying round winner Gladys Chesir of Kenya ran a PB of 9:25.44 but was still over 15 seconds off Kyuma's best and nearly 10 seconds off her season best. In the boys' race, Nishiike was ranked only 4th coming into the qualifying round and, despite running a PB of 8:13.05, finished equal with his ranking. He nevertheless showed strong closing speed and just missed catching Moroccan Hicham Sigueni for 3rd. Fekru Jebesa of Ethiopia won the qualifying round in 8:12.65.
The finals of both the girls' and boys' 3000 m take place Aug. 22. Both races are scheduled to be broadcast through the excellent Youth Olympic Games website.
2010 Youth Olympic Games - top finishers
Girls' 3000 m - Qualifying Round
click here for complete results
1. Gladys Chesir (KEN) - 9:25.44 - PB
2. Moe Kyuma (JPN) - 9:35.33
3. Monica Florea (ROM) - 9:39.00 - PB
4. Samrawit Mengisteab (ERI) - 9:43.25
5. Aikaterini Berdousi (GRE) - 9:44.73 - PB
Boys' 3000 m - Qualifying Round
click here for complete results
1. Fekru Jebesa (ETH) - 8:12.65
2. Abrar Osman (ERI) - 8:12.80
3. Hicham Sigueni (MAR) - 8:12.95
4. Kazuto Nishiike (JPN) - 8:13.05 - PB
5. Josphat Kiprop Kiptis (KEN) - 8:14.08
(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and
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