Shinno Makes Top 8, Matsuda Solos Marathon for 9th - Oregon 22 Day 4 Japanese Results

With both teammates out with COVID it was down to Mizuki Matsuda to represent Japan in the women's marathon at the Oregon 22 World Championships. As the front group went out at World Championships record pace Matsuda let go of both them and a chase group centered around Great Britain's Jess Piasecki and Americans Sara Hall and Emma Bates, all alone by 3 km and running that way the rest of the race. As far back as 17th at one point, by the end of the first 14 km lap she was in 16th, 24 seconds behind the chase group which now included U.S. record holder Keira D'Amato.

As the leading trio went through halfway in 1:09:01 and the chase quartet in 1:10:17 Matsuda was up to 13th in 1:10:38. From there until 40 km it was a steady advance up through the field in pursuit of a top 8 finish, Matsuda closing to within 2 seconds of D'Amato in 8th. But D'Amato had superior closing speed, and held her off 2:23:34 to 2:23:49.

Up front Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase, 3rd-placer at this year's Tokyo Marathon in 2:18:18, dropped Kenyan Judith Jeptum Korir to set a stellar new Championships record of 2:18:11. Korir was 9 seconds back for silver, Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, 2nd in Nagoya this spring in 2:18:45, taking bronze in 2:20:18. Led by Hall's 2:22:10 for 5th, all three Americans made the top 8, something Japan hasn't pulled off at the World Championships since Paris 2003.

How would things have played out if women-only NR holder Mao Ichiyama and half marathon NR holder Hitomi Niiya had made it to the starting line? It's not likely either of them would have been in the race for a medal, but the team duel with the Americans would have been a hell of a race. Hard not to wonder too what would have happened if Matsuda had worked together with the U.S. group and Piasecki instead of running the last 40 km on her own. In 7 marathon starts to date this was only her second time not going under 2:23. Could she have followed Hall to do it again? We'll never know.

Already the first Japanese man to make a World Championships high jump final, Tomohiro Shinno scored a top 8 placing, clearing 2.27 m on his first attempt but unable to make it over 2.30 m. The legend Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar won with a world-leading 2.37 m, his Tokyo Olympics co-gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi 4th at 2.33 m on his second attempt behind a NR 2.35 m jump from South Korea's Sanghyeok Woo and Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko, who cleared 2.33 m on his first attempt for bronze.

With three marathoners and at least five coaches and two team officials out with positive COVID tests so far, the latest casualty on the Japanese team was sprinter Yuki Koike, whose positive result was announced 45 minutes before his 200 m heat. His teammates both advanced, Koki Ueyama turning in a 20.26 PB for 2nd in Heat 1 and veteran Shota Iizuka miraculously making it through with a 20.72 for 3rd in Heat 2, the slowest qualifying time to make the semifinals.

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 Tokyo 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

japan running news

Search This Blog