japan running news

After some last-minute qualifications and IAAF invitations, Japan will field a team of 50 including three alternates for next week's London World Championships. Javelin throw national record holder Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) was named captain of the women's team of 14, with marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) captaining the men's team of 36. The complete Japanese roster with best times within the London qualifying window:

Men's Sprints
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 100 m / 200 m  10.05 / 20.32
Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 100 m - 10.08
Aska Cambridge (Nike) - 100 m - 10.08
Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 200 m - 20.40
Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 400 m - 45.48

Additional Relay Members
Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) - 4x100 m - 10.04
Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) - 4x100 m - 20.47
Kazushi Kimura (Yondenko) - 4x400 m - 45.54
Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) - 4x400 m - 45.67
Yuzo Kanemaru (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 4x400 m - 45.76
Kosuke Horii (Sum…

Over 20,000 fans packed Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai Saturday to try to catch a piece of history on the second day of the 101st Japanese National Track and Field Championships. After a red-hot round of men's 100 m heats and sufficiently fiery semi finals led by 18-year old Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) and backed by Rio Olympics 4x100 m relay silver medal trio Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.), Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) and Aska Cambridge (Nike) plus 20-year-old newcomer Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) there was an expectation in the air for Japan's first sub-10 clocking almost as heavy as the approaching storm front.

With conditions improving throughout the late afternoon and into the early evening ahead of the 8:38 p.m. start time for the 100 m final all signals looked go.  Then, in the last km of the women's 3000 m SC two events before the 100 m, a few drops of rain. A light drizzle during the men's 400 m final. Then, in the ten minutes between the 40…

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620



Hurdler Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) became the third Japanese medalist in athletics at the Gwangju World University Games, taking bronze in the men's 110 mH final.  After a decently quick start Masuno lost ground to eventual gold and silver medalists Greggmar Swift (Barbados) and Konstantin Shabanov (Russia), but with a solid kick after the final hurdle he was strong enough to hang on to 3rd as he made the podium in 13.69 by a margin of just 0.03 seconds.

No such luck in the day's distance final, the women's 5000 m, where favorites Natsuki Omori (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) sat through a slow first 4000 m that saw almost the entire field wait it out for a sprint finish over the last 1000 m.  Kristina Maki (Czech Republic) had the gear to find gold, running 2:55.32 for the final km, with the top 8 all finishing within less than 7 seconds of her.  Omori and Koeda were on the losing end of the group, taking 7th …

by Brett Larner

Japanese athletes came up empty-handed on day three of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games, none of the three athletes to make finals on the day scoring medals.  Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) was short in the men's 400 m final, running 46.03 for 7th.  After running well in the men's 200 m heats and semifinals, Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) and Kotaro Taniguchi (Chuo Univ.) likewise had trouble translating that into success in the final, finishing 6th and 7th.

A day after winning bronze in the men's 10000 m, Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) returned to win the relatively slow second heat of the 5000 m in 14:01.40.  3000 mSC national champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) likewise doubled from the 10000 m, placing 2nd in the faster heat one in 14:01.40.  Promising in the men's 110 mH heats, Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) ran 13.76 for 2nd in his heat, advancing on.  With a full 100 m - 200 m double schedule, Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.)…