Following up on breakthrough performances at last month’s Asian Championships, the Japanese men made the 400 m heats the event of Day 2 at the Budapest World Championships for the Japanese team. In Heat 1 Kentaro Sato got it rolling with a 44.77 for 2nd, breaking the 32-year-old NR by 0.01 seconds and saying post-race that he’d go for more in the next rounds. Fuga Sato followed that with a 44.97 PB for 2nd in Heat 4, becoming just the 3rd Japanese man ever under 45 seconds. Joseph Nakajima didn’t quite match that level but with a 45.15 for 3rd in Heat 5 made it 3/3 for qualification for the semifinals.
Former NR holder Abdul Hakim Sani Brown tied his old NR with a 9.97 +0.3 m/s in the men’s 100 m semifinals, then took 6th in the final in 10.04 +0.0 m/s. That was one place better than his 7th last year in Oregon, the first time a Japanese man had ever made a Worlds final in the 100 m. But although he was disappointed with his performance after his excellent semi, with American Christian Coleman 5th in 9.92 it would have taken a new NR for Sani Brown to have made it even one place higher. Noah Lyles took gold with a world-leading 9.83. Asian champion Hiroki Yanagita ran 10.14 +0.0 m/s for 7th in his semifinal and did not advance.
In the women’s 20 km RW, Nanako Fujii almost equalled the best men’s placing a day earlier, taking 14th in 1:30:10 to Spanish gold medalist Maria Perez’s 1:26:51. Ayane Yanai was 30th in 1:34:59 and Yukiko Umeno 35th in 1:36:52.
Men’s 10000 m Asian champion Ren Tazawa was in the same range at 15th in 28:25.85, an improvement on his performance in Oregon last year by 5 places. Post-race he helped American Joe Klecker, with whom Tazawa had done some runs in St. Moritz earlier this month, get to his feet after Klecker collapsed to the track when he finished in 20th. WR holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took gold in 27:51.42, with Fukuoka-based Benard Kibet Koech 5th in 27:56.27.
In qualifying rounds, all three Japanese men in the 110 mH made the semifinals, Shunsuke Izumiya taking 2nd in Heat 2 in 13.33 +0.5 m/s and Shunya Takayama 2nd in Heat 5 in 13.35 -0.9 m/s. 3rd man Taiga Yokochi advanced on protest after Jamaican Rasheed Broadbell fell into Yokochi’s lane in Heat 3 and obstructed Yokochi’s final jump.
Kazuki Kurokawa was the only one to advance to the semis in the men’s 400 mH, one of Japan’s usual strong events, taking 3rd in Heat 5 in a season best 48.71. Yusaku Kodama ran 50.18 for last in Heat 4 in his Worlds debut and veteran Takayuki Kishimoto 50.90 for last in Heat 2.
Ryoichi Akamatsu was likewise the only one to advance in the men’s high jump, along with American JuVaughn Harrison and legend Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar clearing everything through 2.28 m on his 1st attempt. Nationals runner-up Naoto Hasegawa cleared 2.25 m outside Japan for the first time in his Worlds debut but couldn’t get over 2.28 m to make the final. Tomohiro Shinno was far off his best, clearing only 2.18 m to finish 31st of 36.
Maki Saito was 36th of 37 in the qualifying round of the women’s discus throw at 53.20 m and did not advance. Arisa Kimishima placed 7th in Heat 7 of the women’s 100 m in 11.72 +0.2 m/s and also did not go on. Last among the qualifiers for the women’s 1500 m semifinals, NR holder Nozomi Tanaka matched that with a last-place 4:06.71 in SF1, the slowest time among the 23 finishers in the two semis, and did not advance to the final.
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