Kawano Wins 35 km RW Bronze - Budapest World Championships Day 6 Japanese Results

Day 6 of the Budapest World Championships started with Japan getting onto the medal board for the first time as one of its best individual chances came through. All three Japanese men in the 35 km race walk went out with the lead group and stayed there until just past 20 km, where 2021 50 km national champion Satoshi Maruo lost contact. 2023 35 km national champ Tomohiro Noda lasted another 8 km before dropping, leaving last year's Oregon silver medalist Masatora Kawano in contention for another medal as the pack dwindled. By 31 km it was down to just Kawano, last year's 4th-placer Brian Pintado of Ecuador, and 20 km gold medalist Alvaro Martin of Spain.

Kawano dropped back with 2 km to go, Martin pulling away to take a second gold in a 2:24:30 national record and Pintado getting onto the medal stand with a 2:24:34 area record for silver. Kawano finished with a 2:25:12 SB for bronze, Japan's first medal of any kind in a World Championships that looks set to produce its most-ever top 8 placings. Noda added to that count with a 6th-place finish in 2:25:50, with Maruo taking 13th in 2:29:52.

Another top-8 came in the simultaneous women's 35 km RW as Serena Sonoda worked together with Peruvian Evelyn Inga throughout the race and ended up 7th in 2:46:32, almost 8 minutes behind gold medalist Maria Perez of Spain. Masumi Fuchise clocked a PB 2:52:57 for 14th. Veteran Kumiko Okada was a late scratch shortly before the race due to lower back pain.

In qualifying rounds, Japan's two men in the 5000 m heats had almost identically ineffectual results even though they ran opposite races. 2023 National champion Kazuya Shiojiri stayed at the back of the pack throughout the race with Norwegian 1500 m medalists Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Narve Gilje Nordas, but when they moved up into qualifying territory Shiojiri stayed where he was, ultimately finishing 18th of 21 in his heat in 13:51.00 with two of the people behind him having been involved in a hard fall. It was exactly the kind of performance his Fujitsu teammates Yuta Bando and Hiroki Matsueda turned in at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.

Indoor 5000 m NR holder Hyuga Endo went for a more active effort in Heat 2, keeping himself in the top 8 from the start. But when the race really got going he dropped, finishing 17th of 22 in 13:50.49. Last year in Oregon he was 13th in his heat in 13:47.07, so despite having prepared for Budapest in St. Moritz it was a step backward that didn't bode well for next year's Paris Olympics.

The men's 200 m semifinals were delayed by an accident involving a collision between two athlete transport carts, one of which had veteran Shota Iizuka and other Heat 1 entrants on board. Heat 1 was bumped to the end, with Heat 2 going off first and Heat 3 second. In Heat 3, Asian champion Towa Uzawa ran 20.33 -0.4 m/s for 5th. Iizuka needed to beat the 20.21 run by Heat 3 4th-placer Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia, meaning an improvement on the 20.27 he ran in the heats which was already the fastest he had run since 2016. It wasn't to be, as Iizuka ran 20.54 -0.1 m/s for 5th.

Complete Day 6 results here.

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

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,

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