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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

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