Skip to main content

Niiya Advances to Daegu 5000 m Final

by Brett Larner

For the first time at this World Championships, a Japanese track runner ran an assertive race. Running the same way she did at June's National Championships 5000 m, 2007 Tokyo Marathon winner Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) took Heat One of the women's 5000 m out at near-PB pace, 3:03.70 for the first km, and led for the first half of the heat before being overtaken.  Niiya was rewarded for her honest effort by qualifying for the final.  10000 m national champion Kayo Sugihara (Team Denso) ran more passively in the same heat, hanging back and finishing too far down to qualify.  In Heat Two Russian Elizaveta Greshichnikova ran in similar, if significantly slower, frontrunning fashion to Niiya and likewise went through to the final.  5000 m national champion Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno), who finished last in Saturday's 10000 m, stayed back in the pack, perhaps planning to rely on her characteristic long surge finish.  After a slow first half her time of 15:38.23 was not fast enough to get her through, placing her as the first woman in the combined heats not to qualify for the final.

2011 World Championships Women's 5000 m Heats
Daegu, Korea, 8/30/11
click here for complete results

Heat 1
1. Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) - 15:19.46 - Q
2. Mercy Cherono (Kenya) - 15:20.01 - Q
3. Sylvia Kibet (Kenya) - 15:20.08 - Q
4. Sentayehu Ejigu (Ethiopia) - 15:20.13 - Q
5. Yelena Zadorozhnaya (Russia) - 15:23.90 - Q
6. Amy Hastings (U.S.A.) - 15:29.49 - q
7. Hitomi Niiya (Japan/Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:31.09 - q
8. Helen Clitheroe (GBR) - 15:37.73 - q
-----
9. Kayo Sugihara (Japan/Team Denso) - 15:41.78

Heat 2
1. Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 15:33.06 - Q
2. Tejitu Daba (Bahrain) - 15:33.67 - Q
3. Linet Masai (Kenya) - 15:33.99 - Q
4. Lauren Fleshman (U.S.A.) - 15:34.04 - Q
5. Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (Kenya) - 15:34.80 - Q
6. Zakia Mrisho (Tanzania) - 15:35.37 - q
7. Elizaveta Grechishinikova (Russia) - 15:35.64 - q
-----
8. Megumi Kinukawa (Japan/Team Mizuno) - 15:38.23

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

JY said…
I hope Megumi Kinukawa will be okay.
It was so sad to see Megumi crying her heart out after the race...
September 1, 2011 at 1:17 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera  were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...
1 comment
Read more

My Training for 1:00:44

Hi, I'm Ayumu Kobayashi . Today I'm going to write about this year's National Corporate Half Marathon and the training I did for it. I hope other runners will find it even a little bit helpful. At the Corporate Half on Feb. 13 I was 10th in 1:00:44. My goal had been to run 61 minutes, so I hit that target. My Training Menu In January I ran a total of 681 km. Key workouts: Jan. 11: 1000 m x 5 at 2:50/km Jan. 12: 22.5 km Jan. 15: 9 km variable pace Jan. 17: 25 km Jan. 24: 1000 m x 8 at 2:52/km Jan. 27: 1 km + 4 km + 2 km Jan. 30: 16 km at 3:18/km avg. In January I was tired from the New Year Ekiden and had some knee pain after it, so I just jogged for 10 days until I started doing workouts again on the 11th. That's why I only ran 681 km for the month. But even on the jog days I was aware that I had the Corporate Half coming up, so I was doing around 30 km. It's pretty meat and potatoes, but I think it was really important. February (training for the 10 days before...
2 comments
Read more