Skip to main content

1200 Attend Nittai University's Hakone Ekiden Victory Banquet

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20130218-1087016.html

translated by Brett Larner

2013 Hakone Ekiden winners Nittai University held a banquet at Tokyo's Hotel New Otani on Feb. 18 to celebrate their first Hakone title in 30 years.  More than 1200 guests and dignitaries attended the banquet, including former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, 75, holder of an honorary doctorate from Nittai.  A lifelong Hakone Ekiden fan, Prime Minister Mori praised team captain and Fifth Stage winner Shota Hattori, telling the banquet attendees,  "On TV he looks so strong and powerful, but seeing him in person he is an adorable little munchkin, that Hattori."  Hattori, looking nervous onstage up to that point, laughed and relaxed.

The members of Hattori's last Hakone-winning team from 30 years ago were also in attendance and gathered onstage for a commemorative photo.  Among them were 1991 Tokyo World Championships marathon gold medalist Hiromi Taniguchi, 51, and other familiar faces from long ago.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

National Championships Schedule and Streaming

The National Track and Field Championships happen Friday through Sunday at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. Primetime events will be broadcast on NHK, but the rest of the meet will be streamed on separate field and track channels. Day 1 track events are above, with the rest of the streaming here . Entry lists here . Complete meet schedule: Friday, June 12 13:20 - Women's Discus Throw Final 14:00 - Women's Pole Vault Final 14:05 - Women's 100 m Heats 14:30 - Men's Triple Jump Final 14:38 - Men's 1500 m Heats 15:03 - Women's 100 mH Heats 15:35 - Men's 100 m Heats 15:50 - Men's Discus Throw Final 16:25 - Women's 400 m Heats 16:47 - Men's 400 m Prelims 17:10 - Men's 5000 m Heats 17:45 - Men's Long Jump Final 18:10 - Women's 100 m Semifinals 18:25 - Women's 800 m Heats 18:30 - Women's Javelin Throw Final 18:48 - Men's 800 m Heats 19:15 - Men's 3000 mSC Final 19:35 - Women's 100mH Semifinals 20:00 - Women's 5...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

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...