Skip to main content

Japanese Athletes in Action on Tokyo World Championships Day 4



Japanese athletes lining up on Day 4 of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships Tuesday night:

19:35 - Men's 800 m Heats
Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:45.16 - 1st, Nationals

Prognosis: An NR breaker in high school, Ochiai made the Worlds team on a host country ticket. Probably best to view this one as experiential.

19:40 - Women's Triple Jump Qualification
Maoko Takashima (Kyudenko) - 13.92 m (+0.2) - 1st, Nationals
Mariko Morimoto (Orico) - 13.83 m (+0.8) - 3rd, Nationals

Prognosis: National top 2 Takashima and Morimoto are near the very bottom of the triple jump field, so it's not likely either will make it to the final. Morimoto has better chances on paper but Takashima has been outperforming her this season.

(20:36 - Men's High Jump Final)

Prognosis: The men's high jump squad was probably the hardest to make outside the road events, and any or all of the 3 men on it could make the final.

(20:40 - Men's 110 m Hurdles Semi-Final)

Prognosis: NR holder Rachid Muratake is a medal contender and it would be a surprise not to see him make the semis or the final. Whether he has company in the semis remains to be seen.

(21:01 - Men's Hammer Throw Final)

Prognosis: You're not likely to see national champ Shota Fukuda make it to the final.

(21:07 - Women's 400 m Semi-Final)

Prognosis: Nanako Matsumoto actually ran really well on the anchor leg of the mixed 4x400 m relay to move Japan in qualifying position for the final in NR time, so maybe that momentum will put her in the individual semi-final.

(21:35 - Men's 400 m Semi-Final)

Prognosis: Joseph Nakajima could be here, national champ Fuga Sato unlikely to be.

(22:05 - Women's 1500 m Final)

Prognosis: Same. Nozomi Tanaka could be here, Tomoka Kimura unlikely to be.

(22:20 - Men's 110 m Hurdles Final)

Prognosis: If Muratake can avoid hitting the first hurdle again like in his last Diamond League race then he should be a medal contender.

text and photo © 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

Five New Championship Records at Japanese Olympic Trials Day Two

Great conditions on the second day of Japan's National Track and Field Championships , U20 National Championships and Paris Olympics trials helped athletes set new National Championship meet records in the women's pole vault, men's 400 mH, men's and women's 1500 m, and men's 5000 m, with three of the five record setters and guaranteeing themselves places on the Paris Olympics team. Complete results here . Women's Pole Vault Final National record holder Misaki Morota cleared her minimum goal, the win in 4.31 m to score enough points to move from 33rd to 32nd in the 32-deep Paris Olympic quota. Morota took two attempts to get over 4.30 m, but on her first try at a Japanese National Championships meet record 4.41 m she got it done. That gave her enough points to move to 30th, but it would take clearing 4.50, 2 cm higher than Morota's NR, to move to 29th. That proved to be out of range, leaving Morota in good position but still waiting to see the outcome of...