Saturday saw the newest addition to Japan's top-level track circuit with the first edition of the Denka Athletics Challenge Cup in Niigata. Held in one of Japan's biggest stadiums, the 50,000-capacity Denka Big Swan Stadium, the meet was organized by the local Niigata Albirex RC corporate team and conceived of as a chance for people to get in early marks ahead of next year's pre-Tokyo Olympics buildup and for those who might have missed the Doha World Championships earlier this month to get in season-peak performances to do the same. Despite good weather in days before and after the meet, unlucky rain on the day of the meet meant performances mostly fell short of the hoped-for levels. That didn't stop some quality names domestic and international from taking part. The biggest name among them was Doha women's 800 m gold medalist Halimah Nakaayi (Uganda), who easily held off top Japanese collegian Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) for the win in 2:04.73 at th...