japan running news

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20130714-1157211.html

translated by Brett Larner

With August's Moscow World Championships drawing near, the members of the Japanese national team are building toward their sharpening phase.  While the world focues on the Diamond League, some of the Japanese team's star members will be competing domestically at the Twilight Games and National High School Championships.

The July 28 Twilight Games at Shibuya's Oda Field will feature three members of the Moscow team, Ryota Yamagata (21, Keio Univ.) and Kei Takase (24, Team Fujitsu) in the men's 100 m, with Miyuki Fukumoto (36, Konan Gakuen AC) leading the women's high jump.  Yamagata, who beat teen sensation Yoshihide Kiryu (17, Rakunan H.S.) at last month's National Championships, comes to the Twilight Games in excellent shape after winning silver at last week's World University Games.  He is a strong contender in the race for Japan's first sub-10, …

by Brett Larner

Following the women's 10000 m meet record set yesterday by Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) and Seito Yamamoto (Chukyo Univ.) joining her on the Moscow World Championships team, the 97th Japanese National Track and Field Championships continue today at western Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium.  Below is a quick guide to some of the day's best events, with the men's 10000 m, 100 m and javelin leading the way. JRN will be on-site to cover the meet live.

Men's 10000 m- June 8
There's been some momentum in the men's 10000 m this year, with three collegiates going sub-28 and two men hitting the 27:40.00 World Championships A-standard.  All of them are on the list for today's 10000 m, led by Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) in 27:38.31 and defending national champion Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) with a 27:38.25 best and a 27:39.50 mark this year.  Sato outkicked Osako for the win and an Olympic spot last year, and as the only two men with an A-standard …

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/osaka/sports/article/news/20130114-OHO1T00058.htm

translated by Brett Larner

The new star of the proud Osaka track world, with a Kenyan father Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (3rd yr., Kunei Joshi Gakuin J.H.S.) passed six people on the 3.0 km Third Stage of Sunday's National Women's Ekiden to break the 9 year-old course record with a new record of 9:10. The Kanagawa team ran 2:14:55 for the nine-stage, 42.195 race to set a new overall course record while taking its first win in 26 years, with the Hyogo team 2nd. With seven members including Takamatsu returning from last year's winning team, Osaka took 3rd.

All eyes along Kyoto's historic streets were focused on the 15 year-old Takamatsu.  Taking up the tasuki in 8th place, her slender 157 cm, 39 kg body moved with spring and energetic grace as she advanced through the field.  "There were a lot of runners ahead of me, but I went after them with all my energy," she says.  Among the voices …

London, England, 8/11/12
click here for complete results

Men's 50 km Race Walk
1. Sergey Kirdyapkin (Russia) - 3:35:59 - OR
2. Jared Tallent (Australia) - 3:36:53 - PB
3. Tianfeng Si (China) - 3:37:16 - PB
4. Robert Heffernan (Ireland) - 3:37:54 - NR
5. Igor Erokhin (Russia) - 3:37:54 - PB
-----
10. Koichiro Morioka (Japan) - 3:43:14 - PB
DQ - Yuki Yamazaki (Japan)
DQ - Takayuki Tanii (Japan)

Women's 20 km Race Walk
1. Elena Lashmanova (Russia) - 1:25:02 - WR
2. Olga Kaniskina (Russia) - 1:25:09
3. Shenjie Qieyang (China) - 1:25:16 - AR
4. Hong Liu (China) - 1:26:00
5. Anisya Kirdyapkina (Russia) - 1:26:26
-----
11. Masumi Fuchise (Japan) - 1:28:41
18. Mayumi Kawasaki (Japan) - 1:30:20
37. Kumi Otoshi (Japan) - 1:33:50

Men's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Jamaica - 36.84 - WR
2. U.S.A. - 37.04 - NR
3. Trinidad & Tobago - 38.12
4. France - 38.16
5. Japan (Yamagata/Eriguchi/Takahira/Iizuka) - 38.35
6. Netherlands - 38.39
7. Australia - 38.43
DQ - Canada

Men's Javelin Throw Final
…

London, England, 8/8/12
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m Heat One
1. Hayle Ibrahimov (Azerbaijan) - 13:25.23 - Q
2. Isiah Kiplangat Koech (Kenya) - 13:25.64 - Q
3. Mohamed Farah (U.K.) - 13:26.00 - Q
4. Lopez Lomong (U.S.A.) - 13:26.16 - Q
5. Hagos Gebrehiwet (Ethiopia) - 13:26.16 - Q
6. Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (Kenya) - 13:27.06
7. Arne Gabius (Germany) - 13:28.01
8. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 13:28.71
9. Moukheld Al-Outaibi (Saudi Arabia) - 13:31.47
10. Bilisuma Shugi (Bahrain) - 13:31.84
-----
12. Yuki Sato (Japan) - 13:38.22

Men's 200 m Semi-Final One
1. Yohan Blake (Jamaica) - 20.01 - Q
2. Wallace Spearmon (U.S.A.) - 20.02 - Q
3. Christophe Lemaitre (France) - 20.03 - q
-----
8. Kei Takase (Japan) - 20.70

Men's 200 m Semi-Final Three
1. Churandy Martina (Netherlands) - 20.17 - Q
2. Warren Weir (Jamaica) - 20.28 - Q
3. Christian Malcom (U.K.) - 20.51
-----
6. Shinji Takahira (Japan) - 20.77

Men's Javelin Throw Qualification Round Group A
1. Andreas Thorkildsen (No…

by Brett Larner

Japan's field contingent at the London Olympics is small, but every member is a world-level medalist, national record holder or national collegiate record holder.  Most eyes will be upon 2011 Daegu World Championships and 2004 Athens Olympics men's hammer throw gold medalist Koji Murofushi (Mizuno), who has previously indicated the intent to retire following London.  Murofushi was on top of his game in Daegu, but this spring he was lying low, taking his record 18th-straight national title with a throw of only 72.85 m.  Such a minimal-effort performance raised concerns about his fitness, but Murofushi typically brings his best to the major championships and, if fit, should move up far in the standings from his low-level seeded position.

If any other Japanese athletes are likely to figure into the top of the competition it will be in the men's javelin throw, where 2009 Berlin World Championships bronze medalist Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and his …

by Brett Larner

Day Two of the 2012 Japanese Olympic Trials was bracketed by two classic performances, one an Olympic-qualifying national record and the other an unforgettable duel between a World Championships medalist and the best of the next generation.  Five athletes altogether met the Federation's requirement of a win and an Olympic A-standard mark to secure their places on the London team, while another half-dozen stand a good chance of joining them.

The national record came without warning in the women's pole vault, where Tomomi Abiko (Shiga Lake Stars AC) executed a large PB to unexpectedly clear 4.40 m, a new NR by 4 cm and the first-ever Japanese woman's mark hitting the Olympic B-standard.  Abiko was short of the A-standard mark, but with no other Japanese woman qualified for the Olympics in the pole vault it is hard to see her staying home.  Less certain is the fate of women's 100 mH champion Ayako Kimura (Team Edion), who like Abiko only holds a B-standard …

by Brett Larner

Click here for JRN's middle and long distance preview.

Marathon team medals aside, Japan's only medals at the last Olympics and subsequent two World Championships came in events outside distance running, with the men's 4x100 m relay team winning bronze in Beijing, Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) taking men's javelin bronze in Berlin in 2009 and 2004 Athens Olympics men's hammer throw gold medalist Koji Murofushi (Mizuno) making a comeback for gold last summer in Daegu.  Half of the Beijing relay team, Murakami and Murofushi all return this year to the 96th Japanese National Track & Field Championships, doubling as the Olympic Trials June 8-10 at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, where they earn places on the London Olympic team if they win their events and hold an A-standard mark.

Beijing relay team member Shinji Takahira (Team Fujitsu) leads the way in the men's 200 m, where three men hold Olympic A-standard times.  His training partner Kei Tak…