Skip to main content

Weekend Overseas Japanese Results


Following the Japanese success early Saturday at the IAU 100 km World Championships, Japanese athletes lined up in races across Europe over the weekend.

At Saturday's Prague Grand Prix 10 km, Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) followed up her 2:26:13 marathon debut in Paris with a 9th-place finish in 32:26. 2:08:48 at February's Tokyo Marathon, Kenji Yamamoto (Mazda) was ineffectual in the men's race, nearly a kilometer behind winner Rhonex Kipruto at 17th in 29:21. Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of half marathon and marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara, was 23rd in 30:17 with Yuta's teammate Masaya Taguchi (Honda) overtaken by the top three women to finish 24th in 30:25.

On the track, Jakarta Asian Games men's 200 m gold medalist Yuki Koike had the best Japanese placing on the first day of the Continental Cup in the Czech Republic, finishing 4th in the 200 m in 20.57 (-1.6 m/s). Kosei Yamaguchi was next-best in the men's 3000 m steeplechase at 5th, with Takatoshi Abe, Ayako Kimura and Nozomi Tanaka each 6th in the men's 400 m hurdles, women's 100 m hurdles and women's 3000 m respectively.

Taio Kanai followed that trend up with a 6th place finish Sunday in the Continental Cup's men's 110 m hurdles. Eri Utsunomiya had the weakest showing of the Cup, finishing 8th in the women's 400 m hurdles.

At Sunday's Great North Run, Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta) broke 1:03 there for the second year in a row, taking 6th in 1:02:49. Naoya Takahashi (Yasukawa Denki) was 12th in 1:05:41. In the women's race National Corporate Half runner-up Yuka Hori (Panasonic) was 5th in 1:11:13.

Also Sunday, Asuka Tanaka (Yutori RC) attempted to qualify for Japan's MGC Race 2020 Olympic Trials at the Volksbank Muenster Marathon after having run 2:10:13 at this year's Tokyo Marathon. Tanaka needed to run 2:11:47 to make it, but despite starting off with the leaders on 2:10-flat pace he faded off before halfway. Dizzy by 27 km, he staggered in to an 11th-place finish in 2:32:31, collapsing at the finish line and carried to the medical area where he was found to be suffering from low blood sugar. Justus Kiprotich (Kenya) negative split a course record 2:09:27 for the win. 2017 Osaka Marathon runner-up Mitsuko Ino was expected to be a contender for the win, but after experiencing a ping in a tendon in her upper left leg on a corner just 4 km in the race she began to limp, dropping off pace and eventually out of the race. With six women have withdrawn before the start with injury, first-timer Sheila Rono (Kenya) won in 2:45:45.

text and photos © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

Two-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Erick Wainaina Referred to Prosectors on Suspicion of Assault

  According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyu Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey