Team Honda's Ibrahim Jeilan Wins World Championships 10000 m (updated with coach's comments)

10000 m world champion Ibrahim Jeilan with Honda teammates. Photo by Takashi Horiguchi - click to enlarge.

In a tense and turbulent World Championships 10000 m full of turnover at the head of the pack, Saitama-based 2006 World Jr. 10000 m and 2008 World Jr. XC champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) pulled off a darkhorse win by running down world leader Mo Farah (Great Britain) in the home stretch to take his first senior world title. In so doing he achieved the historic feat of becoming the first man to beat world record holder Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) over the 10000 m distance. Jeilan's coach at Honda, Kiyoshi Akimoto, told JRN shortly after the race, "This result belongs to both Jeilan and the rest of the coaching staff. He has taken the Japanese lifestyle and training methodology to heart deeply and is truly a superb athlete."

Jeilan also beat Japan-based Kenyans Martin Mathathi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), the 2007 World Championships bronze medalist and 10 mile world junior record holder, and Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko), this year's World XC silver medalist. Both Mathathi and Tanui were among the many who led the race before the final kilometer which Jeilan blazed in under 2:27. "Japan-based Kenyan" is a common enough phrase, but Jeilan's outstanding victory may well herald the rise of the Japan-based Ethiopians.

Following the lead of the Japanese women in the 10000 m, 27:38 man Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), the sole Japanese man in the 10000 m, was second-to-last, a limp 15th in 29:04.15.

2011 World Championships Men's 10000 m
Daegu, Korea, 8/28/11
click here for complete results

1. Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) - 27:13.81
2. Mohamed Farah (Great Britain) - 27:14.07
3. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) - 27:19.14
4. Zerseney Tadese (Eritrea) - 27:22.57
5. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki AC) - 27:23.87
6. Peter Kirui (Kenya) - 27:25.63 - PB
7. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:26.84
8. Sileshi Sihine (Ethiopia) - 27:34.11
9. Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 27:54.03
10. Matthew Tegenkamp (U.S.A.) - 28:41.62
-----
15. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 29:04.15
DNF - Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia)

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

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