japan running news

by Brett Larner
video by Ekiden News



The 2016 Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships wrapped up yesterday, highlighted by new high school national records in the girls' 4x400 m relay and boys' pole vault and meet records in those events and the boys' 5000 m race walk, boys' 4x400 m relay and boys' octathlon.  18 events saw athletes break into the all-time Japanese junior and high school top ten lists, a sign of the all-around high level of competition this year.

The boys' 5000 mRW was unusually action-packed, with 12 boys breaking the meet record.  Girls' middle and long distance were also strong, with 7 girls under 2:08 in the 800 m, 9 under 4:20 in the 1500 m and 9 under 9:10 in the 3000 m.  In these and other events the top times were even good enough to get into and in some cases top the U.S.A. high school top ten lists for the year. Below is a list of records and all-time top ten Japanese junior and high school marks set at this ye…

click here for five-channel live streaming of the 69th Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News

#岡山インターハイ#okayama2016
男子棒高跳　江島雅紀　5m43　3回目に成功
日本高校新記録 ★ pic.twitter.com/ddslIjs0zf — EKIDEN News (@EKIDEN_News) July 30, 2016
Back in action after his 6th-place finish at last week's World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Masaki Ejima (Eda H.S.) cleared 5.43 m to win the 2016 National High School Track and Field Championships boys' pole vault July 30 at Okayama's City Lights Stadium.  Ejima's mark broke the meet record by 2 cm and his own high school national record set earlier this year by 1 cm.



8th in the Bydgoszcz girls' 3000 m and 2nd in June's National Championships 1500 m, Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) was likewise back in the 1500 m.  In a tight race with teammates Hina Takahashi and Yume Goto, Tanaka tried to frontrun her way to a national title but lost to Takahashi by a slim margin in the ho…

by Brett Larner

The fourth day of athletics competition at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China saw the Games' first round of medal competition.  2014 National High School Champion Kenta Oshima gave Japan its first medal of the day, taking silver in the boys' 100 m in 10.57 (-0.5) just behind winner Sydney Siame of Zambia in 10.56.  2014 high jump National High School Champion Yuji Hiramatsu followed up quickly with a PB jump of 2.14 m, far short of Russian winner Danil Lysenko's jump of 2.20 m but good for another silver medal.

In the girls' 5000 m race walk Sayori Matsumoto came up just short of the medals in 4th in 23:54.71.  Discus throw youth national record holder Yume Ando was also 4th, his throw of 57.36 m undone by a PB 57.48 m throw by Ukrainian Ruslan Valitov.  In the girls' 800 m, 2014 National High School Champion Hina Takahashi was off her game, finishing last in the final in 2:09.96.

Three Japanese athletes will be competing for medals on Sunday…

by Brett Larner

The last two days of qualification rounds at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China saw three Japanese athletes advance to the medal-earning A finals in their events.  2014 National High School Champion Kenta Oshima led the way in the boys' 100 m, winning his heat in 10.62 (-0.5).  Jun Yamashita followed suit in the boys' 200 m, running a PB of 21.11 (-0.4) for 2nd in his heat to make the medal round.  Tomomi Kawamura missed making it a 100% success rate for Japan's sprinters, her 25.10 in the girls' 200 m only good for 4th in her heat and a place out of the medals in the B final.  In the girls' javelin, Nagisa Mori, only 5th at the Naitonal High School Track and Field Championships earlier this month, threw a PB of 50.72 for 5th in the qualification round and making the A final.

The finals get underway Saturday, with five Japanese athletes competing for medals.  Oshima returns for the boys' 100 m final.  The girls' 800 m features 2014 Na…

by Brett Larner

Over half of the small Japanese track and field contingent at the 2014 Youth Olympics saw action on the first day of competition, with over half of those qualifying for the A-level final in their events.  4th in the 3000 m at this year's World Junior Championships, Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu, the daughter of 2001 Nagano Marathon winner Maxwell Musembi, led the way with a time of 9:08.01 for 4th in the girls' 3000 m qualification round, the only runner in the top five not to PB but only 1.14 seconds behind winner Fatuma Chebsi (Bahrain).  2014 National High School champions Hina Takahashi and Yuji Hiramatsu finished 4th in their events' qualifying rounds to both make their A finals, Takahashi quick enough at 2:09.59 in the girls' 800 m and Hiramatsu one of only five athletes to clear 2.10 m in the boys' high jump.  Boys' discus national youth record holder Yume Ando threw 55.87 m for 6th in the qualifying round, good enough to also make the A final…

by Brett Larner

Amid concerns for athletes' safety in a city with strong resentment of Japanese denial of the Nanking Massacre, with delegation head Yosuke Fujiwara directing team members not to wear their uniforms outside the athletes' village and boos greeting the Japanese delegation during the opening ceremonies, Japan sends a team of only thirteen to compete in athletics at the second Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

4th in the girls' 3000 m at last month's World Junior Championships in Eugene, U.S.A., Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) is the lone distance runner on the team, a sure medal contender after her 9:02.85 in Eugene.  Other prominent members include Hina Takahashi (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) in the girls' 800 m, Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.) in the boys' 100 m, Sayori Matsumoto (Nara Ikuei H.S.) in the girls' 5000 m race walk and Yuji Hiramatsu (Shijoyo H.S.) in the boys' high jump, all national title winners at the National…

by Brett Larner
photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu
video by Ekiden News

After two meet records yesterday, the fourth day of this year's National High School Track and Field Championships saw the meet's first national record.  Rising star Meg Hemphill (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) built up a steady lead over the two days of the women's heptathlon, and with 4666 points and only the 800 m left she needed to run just 2:26.14 to break both the high school and junior national records.  Instead of settling for an easy record she went out full-effort, running 2:17.87 to total 5519 and breaking not just the meet record and the two national records but landing at all-time #8 in the Japanese record books.  A relative newcomer, she looks set to be one of the more interesting Japanese track and field athletes in the next few years.

Hemphill brought the performance of the day, but there were other quality results.  Winning the 400 m national title on the first day of the meet and coming back the next day …

Bangkok, Thailand, 5/21-22/14
click here for Day One results
click here for Day Two results

Girls' 3000 m
1. Fatuma Jewaro Chebsi (Bahrain) - 9:42.12
2. Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Japan) - 10:15.52
3. Nazarova Mekhrangez (Tajikistan) - 10:31.65
4. Nelia Martins (Timor-Leste) - 11:16.16
5. Aviuntungolog Enkhbayov (Mongolia) - 11:30.20

Girls' 1500 m
1. Dalila Abdulkadirgosa (Bahrain) - 4:21.61
2. Nana Kuraoka (Japan) - 4:22.01
3. Zipei Jiang (China) - 4:34.91
4. Aprilia Kartina (Indonedia) - 4:45.38
5. Nastaran Akbari (Iran) - 5:16.88

Girls' 800 m
1. Hina Takahashi (Japan) - 2:09.28
2. Desi Mokonin (Bahrain) - 2:11.39
3. Fernando K.N. Dilhani (Sri Lanka) - 2:11.55
4. Zipei Jiang (China) - 2:13.50
5. Thi Tham Tran (Vietnam) - 2:13.81

Girls' 200 m
1. Xiaojing Liang (China) - 24.08
2. Manqi Ge (China) - 24.30
3. Zion Corrales-Nelson (Philippines) - 24.30
4. Tomomi Kawamura (Japan) - 25.12
5. Shiori Kakegawa (Japan) - 25.26

Girls' 100 mH
1. Nana Fujimori (Japan) - 13.59
2. Jing …