Skip to main content

Kawauchi Leaves for Oslo After Trying 100 m Time Trial

The civil servant runner admits to being shocked. 2017 London World Championships marathoner and men's captain Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) left from Tokyo's Narita Airport for Norway the evening of Sept. 13 to run the Sept. 16 BMW Oslo Marathon.

On Sept. 9 at the National University Track and Field Championships, Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) became the first Japanese man to break 10 seconds in the 100 m when he set a new national record of 9.98. The news has been the talk of the nation ever since. Kawauchi said, "It's pretty amazing. It took up the front page of every newspaper." What can he run for 100 m? "My PB is 13.1, but right now, 13.9," he admitted.

Kawauchi ran that time, "in the morning the day before yesterday," he said. "I did two time trials. I even wore spikes. I ran them for real and only did 13.9. To be honest, it was pretty shocking." Although short sprints are well outside his area of expertise it seemed that he felt a sense of inadequacy at running just barely under 14 seconds, 4 seconds slower than Kiryu's and the kind of mark second-tier high school boys might run.

Following last month's World Championships Kawauchi went through a post-London slump, not training seriously for two weeks. "My weight rebounded back up to 66 kg, and my body fat is up to 13.2%," he said. "Now it's time to get back into it." Mentally refreshed and renewed, Kawauchi set off for Norway's foreign shores to make his comeback to racing.

source articles:
http://m.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2017/09/13/kiji/20170913s00057000279000c.html
http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20170913-OHT1T50202.html
translated and edited by Brett Larner
photo © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekend Track Roundup

There were 2 decently competitive meets in the Tokyo area this weekend. Saturday saw the new year's first edition of the Setagaya Time Trials meet. Takuma Akiyoshi took the men's 3000 m A-heat over his MABP Maverick teammate Festus Kiprono Cheruiyot with a 7:58.32 PB. Cheruiyot just held off 3rd-placer Nao Kurihara 7:59.92 to 8:00.02, with MABP runners taking the top 5 spots. The top 7 in the men's 5000 m A-heat all cleared 14 minutes. Still a 6-way race with 400 m to go, Tatsuya Maruyama of Komori Corp. came out on top in 13:48.49, with 5th-placer Kazuki Ishii of Yakult just over a second behind in 13:49.63. Lacking the gear to stay with them, new American marathon sensation Ethan Shuley fell back to 6th in 13:57.12 in his first-ever track 5000 m, holding off 7th-placer Daiki Nomimura of NTT Nishi Nihon who came up from behind to finish in 13:58.30. Sunday was the 59th edition of the Tokyo Big 6 meet between Waseda University , Meiji University , Hosei Univers...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kanakuri Memorial Meet Streaming and Start Lists

Japan's outdoor Grand Prix season kicks off Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial Meet . Streaming will be at the link above starting at 9:30 a.m. local time. Complete timetable and start lists . Main events and some noteworthy entries: GP Women's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:10 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Ayano Shiomi , 2:01.01 GP Men's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:30 p.m. GP Women's 3000 mSC  - 2:45 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Yuzu Nishide , 9:38.95 All-time JPN #5 Manami Nishiyama , 9:39.28 South Korean NR holder Ha-Rim Cho , 9:53.09 GP Men's 3000 mSC  - 3:05 p.m. All-time JPN #2 Ryoma Aoki , 8:18.75 All-time JPN #5 Yutaro Niinae , 8:19.54 All-time JPN #7 Hibiki Obara , 8:22.64 All-time U20 JPN #2 Tetsu Sasaki , 8:29.05 All-time U20 JPN #3 Soma Nagahara , 8:30.37 GP Women's 1500 m Heat 2  - 3:35 p.m. Teresiah Muthoni , 4:02.54 Margaret Ekalale , 4:09.64 all-time JPN #3 Ran Urabe , 4:07.90 All-time JPN #6 Tomoka Kimura , 4:09.79 All-time U20 #5 Mei Sakiyama , 4:13.67 GP Men's 1500...
Post a Comment
Read more