Japan's Yuki Koike and Seito Yamamoto took home gold to lead the country's best daily medal total so far in athletics competition at the Jakarta Asian Games. Head-to-head with Taiwanese national record holder Chun-Han Yang the entire way through the men's 200 m, Yang leading off the curve, Koike overtaking him in the straight, Yang fighting back, both men falling across the line, Koike won in the performance of the day in a PB of 20.23 (+0.7 m/s). Yang broke his own national record by 0.10 for silver, also clocking at 20.23 but on review coming through 0.002 behind Koike. Bahraini Yaqoob Yaqoob was a distant afterthought in 20.55 for bronze, with Japanese national champ Shota Iizuka off form at 6th in 20.68. Just 23, Koike joins the A-list of Japanese sprinting just two years out from the Tokyo Olympics, while Yang's continued progression confirms his potential as an international competitor.
6th in the men's pole vault at last year's London World Championships, Yamamoto was the class of the field in Jakarta. The only man to clear 5.60 m, Yamamoto went on take a shot at the Asian Games record, clearing 5.70 m on his first attempt. He then set his sights on Daichi Sawano's 5.83 m national record, but with three attempts at 5.84 m that height proved out of reach.
The 20 km racewalks, one of Japan's areas of strength, turned up medals in both the men's and women's races. In the men's race Toshikazu Yamanishi won silver in 1:22:10 just 6 seconds behind winner Kaihua Wang of China. Yamanishi's teammate Eiki Takahashi was 5th in 1:27:31. China's Jiayu Yang and Shijie Qieyang dominated the women's race, both clocking an Asian Games record 1:29:15 to take gold and silver, with Japan's Kumiko Okada picking up bronze way back in 1:34:02.
The day's other Japanese medal came in the heptathlon, where 23-year-old Yuki Yamasaki set a PB of 5873 to win bronze in a competition that came down to her outkicking India's Purnima Hembram in the home straight of the 800 m to settle the medal. 3rd at the end of the first day, collegiate record holder Meg Hemphill ended up 6th with a score of 5654. Other top 6 finishes came in the men's triple jump, where Kohei Yamashita was 10 cm out of the medals in 4th with a jump of 16.46 m, and the men's discus throw with national record holder Masateru Yugami 6th at 57.62 m well off the form of his 62.14 m national record throw in June.
All four events with qualifying rounds saw Japanese athletes go through to the final day's final. Indoor mile national record holder and Hakone Ekiden runner Ryoji Tatezawa qualified in the men's 1500 m, with both the women's and men's 4x100 m and men's 4x400 m relay teams advancing. The men's 4x100 m team, featuring a complete A-list of Ryota Yamagata, Shuhei Tada, national record holder Yoshihide Kiryu and Aska Cambridge, was particularly solid, easily winning its heat in 38.20 to go into the final 0.68 ahead of nearest competitor China.
An interesting moment in casual racism came on the TBS broadcast just after the men's 4x400 m qualifying heat. In most situations Japanese people refer to each other by their family names while referring to people from abroad by their first names. It's insulting but one of those things you just have to bear as a resident. Following the 4x400 m heat the female trackside announcer did short interviews with each of the four team members, addressing each by their family name as you would expect until coming to anchor Julian Walsh. The son of a Japanese mother and Jamaican father, Walsh is a Japanese citizen, not a foreigner. Without missing a beat the announcer addressed him by his first name instead of his family name. It was probably unintentional, but the message delivered on live national TV, which passed uncommented upon and unapologized for, couldn't have been clearer.
Jakarta Asian Games Day Five Japanese Results
Jakarta, Indonesia, 8/29/18complete results
Men's 200 m Final +0.7 m/s
1. Yuki Koike (Japan) - 20.23 - PB
2. Chun-Han Yang (Taiwan) - 20.23 - NR
3. Yaqoob Yaqoob (Bahrain) - 20.55
4. Kuk Young Kim (South Korea) - 20.59
5. Tae Geon Park (South Korea) - 20.61
6. Shota Iizuka (Japan) - 20.68
7. Mohamed Al-Sadi (Oman) - 20.81
8. Ge Bie (China) - 21.07
Women's 20 km Racewalk Final
1. Jiayu Yang (China) - 1:29:15 - MR
2. Shijie Qieyang (China) - 1:29:15 (MR)
3. Kumiko Okada (Japan) - 1:34:02
4. Kaur Khushbir (India) - 1:35:24
5. Yeong Eun Jeon (South Korea) - 1:37:31
Men's 20 km Racewalk Final
1. Kaihua Wang (China) - 1:22:04
2. Toshikazu Yamanishi (Japan) - 1:22:10
3. Xiangqian Jin (China) - 1:25:41
4. Hyun Sub Kim (South Korea) - 1:27:17
5. Eiki Takahashi (Japan) - 1:27:31
Men's Triple Jump Final
1. Singh Arpinder (India) - 16.77 m +0.0 m/s
2. Ruslan Kurbanov (Uzbekistan) - 16.62 m +0.0 m/s - PB
3. Shuo Cao (China) - 16.56 m +0.3 m/s
4. Kohei Yamashita (Japan) - 16.46 m -0.2 m/s
5. Pratchaya Tepparak (Thailand) - 16.43 m +0.0 m/s - PB
Men's Pole Vault Final
1. Seito Yamamoto (Japan) - 5.70 m - MR
2. Jie Yao (China) - 5.50 m
3. Patsapong Amsam Ang (Thailand) - 5.50 m - PB
4. Sergey Grigoryev (Kazakhstan) - 5.40 m
5. Hussain Asim Alhizam (Saudia Arabia) - 5.40 m
5. Min Sub Jin (South Korea) - 5.40 m
Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Ehsan Hadad (Iran) - 65.71 m
2. Mustafa Al Saamah (Iraq) - 60.09 m
3. Eissa Zankawi (Kuwait) - 59.44 m
4. Behnam Shiri Jabilou (Iran) - 58.09 m
5. Muhammad Irfan Shamshuddin (Malaysia) - 57.70 m
6. Masateru Yugami (Japan) - 57.62 m
Women's Heptathlon Final
1. Swapna Barman (India) - 6026
2. Qingling Wang (China) - 5954
3. Yuki Yamasaki (Japan) - 5873 - PB
4. Purnima Hembram (India) - 5837
5. Ekaterina Voronina (Uzbekistan) - 5826
6. Meg Hemphill (Japan) - 5654
Men's 1500 m Qualification Standings
1. Mohammed Tiouali (Bahrain) - 3:46.60 - Q, Heat 2
2. Jinson Johnson (India) - 3:46.50 - Q, Heat 2
3. Amir Moradi (Iran) - 3:46.93 - Q, Heat 2
4. Hamza Driouch (Qatar) - 3:47.18 - Q, Heat 2
5. Adman Al Mnitfage (Iraq) - 3:48.75 - q, Heat 2
6. Jae Won Oh (South Korea) - 3:50.28 - q, Heat 2 - PB
7. Singh Manjit (India) - 3:50.59 - Q, Heat 1
8. Yuxi Luo (China) - 3:50.69 - Q, Heat 1
9. Alsadik Mikhou (Bahrain) - 3:50.75 - Q, Heat 1
10. Ryoji Tatezawa (Japan) - 3:50.75 - Q, Heat 1
11. Musulman Dzholomanov (Kyrgyzstan) - 3:50.77 - q, Heat 1
12. Musaab Ali (Qatar) - 3:50.90 - q, Heat 1
Women's 4x100 m Relay Qualification Standings
1. China - 43.66 - Q, Heat 1
2. Bahrain - 43.68 - Q, Heat 1
3. Kazakhstan - 44.40 - Q, Heat 2
4. Thailand - 44.81 - Q, Heat 2
5. Japan - 44.95 - Q, Heat 2
6. Taiwan - 45.17 - Q, Heat 1
7. Vietnam - 45.22 - q, Heat 1
8. Hong Kong - 45.53 - q, Heat 2
Men's 4x100 m Relay Qualification Standings
1. Japan - 38.20 - Q, Heat 1
2. China - 38.88 - Q, Heat 1
3. Indonesia - 39.03 - Q, Heat 2
4. Taiwan - 39.15 - Q, Heat 2
5. South Korea - 39.34 - Q, Heat 1
6. Thailand - 39.52 - Q, Heat 2
7. Hong Kong - 39.54 - q, Heat 1
8. Malaysia - 39.59 - q, Heat 2
Men's 4x400 m Relay Qualification Standings
1. Qatar - 3:06.08 - Q, Heat 2
2. Japan - 3:06.11 - Q, Heat 1
3. Bahrain - 3:06.29 - Q, Heat 2
4. India - 3:06.48 - Q, Heat 1
5. Sri Lanka - 3:06.66 - Q, Heat 2
6. Iraq - 3:06.92 - Q, Heat 1
7. China - 3:06.98 - q, Heat 1
8. Pakistan - 3:08.20 - q, Heat 1
© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments
On tv they also praised him as Japan's top 400m runner, among other things. It didn't sound like racism of any sort.
I recall Takamatsu Tomomi Musembi being referred to by her whole name during the high school ekiden, whereas her teammates were referred to by their family names only (most of the time). Again, maybe they were confused (and too lazy to check - which, come think of it, might by itself be due to casual racism).
I've never heard anyone call Cambridge Asuka by his first name, ever. Maybe because it was obvious which one was his family name and which one his given name. So far as I can tell Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was always referred to as Sani Brown.