japan running news

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620



Defending champ Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.) brought the highlight of the second day of the Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships, delivering a big upset in the boys' 100 m final with a win over the fastest boy in the field, 2015 World Youth Championships double gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.).  With Sani Brown holding a PB 0.11 seconds faster and leading his times in both the heats and semifinals, Oshima had a great start in the final, opening an early lead as Sani Brown was slow out of the blocks.  Sani Brown closed throughout the race, but Oshima had enough for the win in 10.29, his second-straight national H.S. 100 m title and a PB by 0.09 seconds despite a -0.8 m/s headwind.  Sani Brown was almost even with him in 10.30, just off his best, with 3rd-placer Kenta Katsuse (Saku Yakonohana H.S.) running a PB 10.48.  Both Oshima and Sani Brown returned later to anchor their teams in  4x100 m relay semifina…

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

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

The second day of the 2014 National High School Track and Field Championships brought even hotter temperatures than the first, 36 degrees at the time of the girls' and boys' mid-afternoon 1500 m finals.  The girls' race started with a mishap as #1-ranked Japanese runner Karin Yasumoto (Suma Gakuen H.S.) was tripped in the first 50 m as the field crowded together, landing flat on her face and ultimately ending up second-to-last.  #1-seeded Kenyan Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) shot to the front and opened a lead of over 50 m by halfway, with the two slowest qualifiers for the final, Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) and Azusa Sumi (Toyokawa H.S.) breaking from the chase pack early in pursuit.

By 800 m Margaret had started come back, and both Kuraoka and Sumi went by her with 200 m to go.  Kuraoka continued her momentum and dropped Sumi on the curve to take the win in 4:20.82.  Behind her the pack caught Margaret and made contact with Sumi in the home…

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 …

http://www.47news.jp/CN/200909/CN2009091501000561.html

translated by Brett Larner

Sydney and Athens Olympics distance runner Megumi Oshima, 34, gave birth to a baby boy on Sept. 14. Looking for a sponsor, Oshima hopes to make a comeback to the running world and compete in the 2012 London Olympics together with her husband Kenta Oshima, 30, (Team Nissin Shokuhin).

Oshima and Kenta met during the course of their professional running careers and married in June, 2004. Both wanted children, so the couple planned to have one following the announcement of the teams for the Beijing Olympics. Having left her sponsoring company last year, Oshima was in the midst of looking for a way to continue her life as a professional athlete when she discovered she was pregnant in January. "Counting backward from my planned peak at the selection race for the London Olympic team and taking my age into account we decided that this was the only good chance we'd have for a child," she says. "I&…

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/120400.html http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/culture/sports/athlete/result/
translated and edited by Brett Larner
Joseph Mwaniki (Team Konica Minolta) defended his title at the 2008 Hakodate Half Marathon in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture on Sept. 28, covering the Rikuren-certified course in 1:02:08. Mwaniki took the lead at the seaside 11 km turnaround, finishing over a minute ahead of 2nd place finisher Kenta Oshima (Team Nissin Shokuhin), who ran 1:03:29. Nissin runners Bene Zama and Kazuyoshi Tokumoto took 3rd and 4th, both clocking PBs.
Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) won the women's race in 1:14:12, her first victory in the Hakodate Half. Nojiri attacked over a hilly section of the course near the 5 km point, breaking apart rival Mizuho Kishi (Team Yamada Denki) to win by a wide margin.
1545 entrants including 218 women took part in the 18th edition of the race. Temperatures at the start were 15.5 degrees.