Japanese Olympic Long Distance Event Rankings

by Brett Larner

Entry lists for track and field events at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were publicly released yesterday on the IAAF website. Start lists are due to be released later this week and are bound to include scratches. Based on the current entry lists, below are Japanese long distance athletes' ranking in their events by best time within the Olympic qualifying window. Rankings will be revised based on updated start lists.

Ranked 5th in the women's marathon field of 160, Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) looks like Japan's best chance at a distance medal, with 8th-ranked Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) an outside contender. Ranked 9th in the women's 10000 m, Ayuko Suzuki (Team Japan Post) is the only other Japanese athlete in the top 10 in their event. Beating her ranking would give her the best Japanese women's 10000 m Olympic placing in 20 years. Three other athletes, Hanami Sekine (Team Japan Post) in the women's 10000 m, Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) in the women's marathon and Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) in the men's marathon, are ranked in the top 12 and could have chances of top 8 finishes.

National record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) is ranked 17th in the men's 5000 m with Suzuki ranked 18th in the women's 5000 m. The challenge for both of them will to become just the second Japanese man and woman post-war to make an Olympic 5000 m final. For young collegiate steeplers Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama Univ.), ranked 53rd of 55 in the women's 3000 mSC, and Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.), 43rd of 45 in the men's race, the challenge will be to finish as far ahead of their rankings as they can.

Women's 10000 m - Aug. 12 - 42 entrants
9. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 31:18.16
11. Hanami Sekine (Japan Post) - 31:22.92
17. Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) - 31:35.76

Men's 10000 m - Aug. 13 - 34 entrants
14. Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 27:29.69
19. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 27:42.71
23. Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) - 27:45.24

Women's 3000 mSC - Heats: Aug. 13 / Final: Aug. 15 - 55 entrants
53. Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama University) - 9:44.22

Women's Marathon - Aug. 14 - 160 entrants
5. Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) - 2:22:17
8. Tomomi Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei) - 2:23:19
12. Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:24:42

Men's 3000 mSC - Heats: Aug. 15 / Final: Aug. 17 - 45 entrants
43. Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo University) - 8:31.89

Women's 5000 m - Heats: Aug. 16 / Final: Aug. 19 - 37 entrants
18. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 15:08.29
27. Misaki Onishi (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:16.82
32. Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) - 15:21.40

Men's 5000 m - Heats: Aug. 17 / Final: Aug. 20 - 51 entrants
17. Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) - 13:08.40
34. Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 13:19.62

Men's Marathon - Aug. 21 - 159 entrants
12. Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:56
14. Hisanori Kitajima (Yasukawa Denki) - 2:09:16
17. Suehiro Ishikawa (Honda) - 2:09:25

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading

japan running news

Search This Blog