Endo Wins Men's 5000 m to Seal Up Place on Oregon Team - National Championships Day One Highlights

Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) opened the first day of the 2022 National Track and Field Championships in Osaka by becoming the first athlete at Nationals to score a place on the team for next month's World Championships. Saying post-race that he'd run the 5000 m envisioning the semis at Worlds, Endo hung back in the early stages, moved up to cover a mid-race move by Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu), then kicked away with ease in the last 1000 m to take the win in 13:22.15. Combined with his 13:10.69 in April it was enough to land him on the team. Olympian Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) was 2nd in 13:30.15, enough to move up the world rankings but still short of what he'd need to break into what's left of the quota places. Kanta Shimizu (Subaru) came up from the chase pack for 3rd in 13:31.51, with the next 7 all under 13:40. Shiojiri ended up 9th in 13:40.99, with Takuma Sunaoka (Konica Minolta), sub-13:20 this season, last in 14:53.51.

NR holder Naoto Tobe (JAL) was a DNS in the men's high jump with an Achilles tendon injury that will probably keep him home this summer, but Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) stepped up to win at 2.30 m, enough to move him up from 18th to 15th in the quota. Interviewed later he said that he felt pretty good about his chances of staying in the top 32. 2nd through 4th all cleared 2.20 m, with Ryoichi Akamatsu (Awas) scoring enough points to move him up from his more precarious spot at 30th in the quota.

Sumire Hata (Shibata Kogyo) overcame a -2.5 m/s headwind to win the women's long jump with a third-round 6.43 m jump. That was good enough to improve her quota spot from 22nd to 20th and improve her chances of making the cut. Nanaka Kori (Niigata Albirex RC) pulled out a 58.70 m throw for the win on her last attempt in the women's discus throw, just off her own national record and putting the Worlds quota in range if she can duplicate that performance one more time before the June 26 deadline. Likewise for Masateru Yugami (Toyota), who threw 59.43 m in the men's discus, his best since 2019, to move just outside the quota. But that was only good enough for 2nd, with Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) throwing 59.45 m for the national title.

In qualifying rounds the biggest news was the men's 100 m, where Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) failed to make the final. With Aska Cambridge (Nike) a DNS and NR holder Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) not even entered that meant a lot of the core of Japan's 4x100 m crew won't be on the starting line in the final tomorrow. Even Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) barely made it, squeezing through on time in 10.25 (+0.5). But even as those veterans struggled, there was good news. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Tumbleweed TC) was back, running 10.11 (0.0) to lead the heats and then clearing the Worlds standard with a 10.04 (+0.8) to top the semis. Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) won the first semi in 10.13 (+0.5) with Ryuichiro Sakai (Osaka Gas) 2nd in 10.15, and in the second semi 18-year-old Hiroki Yanagita (Toyo Univ.) continued to climb the ranks with a 10.16 (0.0) PB for 1st. A win from Sani Brown in the final tomorrow looks like a given, but the lineup for the Worlds 4x100 m could be very different from last summer's Olympic DNF roster.

The women's 100 m title is less sure, with Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko), Arisa Kimishima (DK Shiken) and Mei Kodama (Mizuno) all within 0.02 of each other in the semis and Masumi Aoki (77 Ginko) just behind. Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) led the women's 400 m semis by over a second in a PB 52.74, with Worlds quota occupiers Kaito Kawabata (Chukyo Univ. AC) and Fuga Sato (Nasu Kankyo) both winning their semis in the men's 400 m. Sato dropped the fastest time overall, 45.55. There weren't any surprises in the women's 1500 m heats, where 4:18.58 was the slowest time qualifier and all the favorites advanced, but the men's 1500 m Heat 2 was unexpectedly fast. NR holder Nanami Arai (Honda) ran 3:41.47 for 1st, with 7th-place Daichi Takeuchi (Toenec) running 3:43.67 as the slowest time qualifier. 8th-place Shoma Funatsu (Kyudenko) ran 3:45.42, faster than Heat 1 winner Keisuke Morita (Subaru) but shut out of the final.

Complete results are available here. The National Track and Field Championships continue through Sunday. Look for Day Two preview and streaming shortly.

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

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