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Fujii and Toyoda's Double 400 m Hurdles Medals Lead World Youth Championships Day Four Japanese Results

by Brett Larner
videos by Akiko Sani Brown



After setting boys' 400 m hurdles world youth leads in the heats and semifinals at the World Youth Championships, Japan's Ryusei Fujii (Kokura Kogyo H.S.) and Masaki Toyoda (Rakunan H.S.) added to the country's medal total in the final to cap the fourth day of competition.  Both delivering PB performances, Fujii and Toyoda were unable to match a brilliant world youth leading 49.11 from Norman Grimes (U.S.A.) but took silver and bronze, Fujii in 50.33 and Toyoda in 50.53.  4th placer Rivaldo Leacock (Barbados) likewise turned in a PB of 51.13, an indication of how good the competition up front was.



The other Japanese performance of the day came in the boys' 200 m semifinals.  Despite a 1.7 m/s headwind, 100 m gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.) ran 20.62 to win his semifinal, just 0.06 seconds off his best and 0.12 seconds off the Beijing World Championships qualifying standard.  His nearest competition in the semis, Kyle Appel (South Africa) ran 20.79 to win Heat 3 but with a headwind of only 1.0 m/s.  Sani Brown looks set for double gold in the final, the only question being how fast.  His teammate Kazuki Tamura (Shimonoseki Shogyo H.S.) ran 21.35 in Appel's heat, finishing 4th and shut out of the final.

In the girls' 1500 m final, Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) ran 4:21.59 for 6th, with her counterpart in the boys' 800 m final Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) running 1:52.58 for 8th.  Japan's race walkers also made the top 10, Toshiki Ueda (Uwajima Higashi H.S.) clocking a PB 43:34.83 for 5th in the boys' 10000 m and Maika Yagi (Nishinomiya H.S.) likewise delivering a PB 23:46.47 for 10th in the girls' 5000 m.  Advancing alongside Sani Brown to the finals on the last day of competition, Maya Takeuchi (Setsu H.S.) jumped 6.07 m in the girls' long jump to qualify. Japan's mixed 4x400 m relay team won its heat with the second-fastest time between all three heats, 3:24.76. 

9th World Youth Championships Day Four Japanese Results
Cali, Colombia, 7/18/15
click here for complete results

Girls' 1500 m Final
1. Bedatu Hirpa (Ethiopia) - 4:12.92 - WYL
2. Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa (Bahrain) - 4:13.35 - PB
3. Joyline Cherotich (Kenya) - 4:15.20 - PB
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6. Chika Mukai (Japan) - 4:21.59
12. Wakana Kabasawa (Japan) - 4:32.50

Boys' 800 m Final
1. Willy Kiplimo Tarbei (Kenya) - 1:45.58
2. Kipyego Bett (Kenya) - 1:45.86
3. Luis Fernando Pires (Brazil) - 1:48.61 - PB
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7. Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Japan) - 1:52.58

Boys' 200 m Semifinal 1 -1.7 m/s
1. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Japan) - 20.62 - Q
2. Edel Rogelio Amores (Cuba) - 21.07 - Q - PB
3. Tlotliso Gift Leotlela (South Africa) - 21.13 - q

Boys' 200 m Semifinal 3 -1.0 m/s
1. Kyle Appel (South Africa) - 20.79 - Q
2. Derick Silva (Brazil) - 20.92 - Q - PB
3. Cameron Tindle (Great Britain) - 20.99 - q
4. Kazuki Tamura (Japan) - 21.35

Girls' 200 m Semifinal 2 +0.1 m/s
1. Candace Hill (U.S.A.) - 23.21 - Q
2. Nicola De Bruyn (South Africa) - 23.54 - Q - PB
3. Ashlan Best (Canada) - 24.22 - PB
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6. Ami Saito (Japan) - 24.38

Boys' 400 mH Final
1. Norman Grimes (U.S.A.) - 49.11 - WYL
2. Ryusei Fujii (Japan) - 50.33 - PB
3. Masaki Toyoda (Japan) - 50.53 - PB

Mixed 4x400 m Relay Heat 3
1. Japan - 3:24.76 - Q
2. Canada - 3:25.44 - Q
3. South Africa - 3:26.90 - q

Boys' 10000 m Race Walk Final
1. Sergey Shirobokov (Russia) - 42:24.41
2. Jun Zhang (China) - 42:33.68 - PB
3. Federico Gonzalez (Mexico) - 42:54.55
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5. Toshiki Ueda (Japan) - 43:34.83 - PB
18. Yasushi Morita (Japan) - 46:31.43 - PB

Girls' 5000 m Race Walk Final
1. Zhenxia Ma (China) - 22:41.08
2. Olga Eliseeva (Russia) - 22:45.09
3. Ayalnesh Dejene (Ethiopia) - 22:48.25 - PB
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10. Maika Yagi (Japan) - 23:46.47 - PB
26. Yukako Hayashi (Japan) - 25:22.47 - PB

Girls' Long Jump Qualification Group A
1. Tara Davis (U.S.A.) - 6.24 m +0.0 m/s - Q
2. Milica Gardasevic (Serbia) - 6.16 m -0.1 m/s - Q
3. Maja Bedrac (Slovakia) - 6.16 m +1.2 m/s - Q
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6. Kanae Sugimura (Japan) - 5.88 m +0.4 m/s

Girls' Long Jump Qualification Group B
1. Viyaleta Skvartsova (Belarus) - 6.26 m +1.3 m/s - Q - PB
2. Susana Hernandez (Mexico) - 6.11 m -0.4 m/s - Q
3. Maya Takeuchi (Japan) - 6.07 m +0.8 m/s - q

Boys' Javelin Throw Qualification Group B
1. Hercules Van Vuuren (South Africa) - 79.04 m - Q - PB
2. Manu Quijera (Spain) - 77.26 m - Q - PB
3. Conor Warren (Australia) - 77.03 m - Q
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11. Gen Naganuma (Japan)  65.96 m - PB

Girls' Heptathlon Final Scores
1. Geraldine Ruckstuhl (Switzerland) - 6037 - MR
2. Sarah Lagger (Austria) - 5992
3. Alina Shukh (Ukraine) - 5896
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15. Maya Shreshta (Japan) - 5327 - PB

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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