japan running news

Japan's Yuki Koike and Seito Yamamoto took home gold to lead the country's best daily medal total so far in athletics competition at the Jakarta Asian Games. Head-to-head with Taiwanese national record holder Chun-Han Yang the entire way through the men's 200 m, Yang leading off the curve, Koike overtaking him in the straight, Yang fighting back, both men falling across the line, Koike won in the performance of the day in a PB of 20.23 (+0.7 m/s). Yang broke his own national record by 0.10 for silver, also clocking at 20.23 but on review coming through 0.002 behind Koike. Bahraini Yaqoob Yaqoob was a distant afterthought in 20.55 for bronze, with Japanese national champ Shota Iizuka off form at 6th in 20.68. Just 23, Koike joins the A-list of Japanese sprinting just two years out from the Tokyo Olympics, while Yang's continued progression confirms his potential as an international competitor.

6th in the men's pole vault at last year's London World Championship…

by Brett Larner

Led by men'x 4x100 m relay silver medalist Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.), eight members of Japan's Rio de Janeiro Olympic team top the entry lists at this weekend's 85th National University Track and Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama.  Kiryu is entered in both the 100 m and 200 m. The men's 400 m features his Toyo University teammate Julian Walsh and Walsh's Rio 4x400 m partners Nobuya Kato (Waseda Univ.) and Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.).  Another Toyo Olympian, Daisuke Matsunaga, leads the men's 10000 m race walk, while Juntendo University's Kazuya Shiojiri, a last-minute add to the Rio team in the men's 3000 m steeplechase, is entered in the 5000 m and 10000 m along with the steeple.  Going for a triple of his own is Kohei Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) in the men's triple jump.  The only female collegiate Rio Olympian in athletics, Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama Univ.) is set to add the 2016 national collegiate title to her res…

by Brett Larner

National record holder Daichi Sawano (Team Fujitsu) was the lone Japanese athlete in action in a final on Day Four of athletics competition at the Rio de Janeiro, waiting out heavy rain before getting started in the men's pole vault.  Sawano easily cleared 5.50 m on his first attempt but struggled at 5.65 m, seeming to clear it on his third attempt but brushing the bar just enough to be eliminated.  His 7th-place overall finish in the final checks only the second box in the JAAF's modest goal of one medal and five top eight placings in Rio, a goal that at this point looks tough to achieve despite widespread Japanese success in a variety of other sports.

National champion Keisuke Nozawa (Mizuno) blasted a 48.62 PB to win Heat 4 of the men's 400 m hurdles, frontrunning the entire race to make the semifinals.  Teammate Yuki Matsushita (Mizuno) was the first non-qualifier in 49.60.  In one of two men's 110 m hurdles heats run as heavy rain set in, national …

by Brett Larner

On July 13 the JAAF announced three additions to its team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  Men's 800 m national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and men's pole vault national record holder Daichi Sawano (Team Fujitsu) were added after clearing their respective Rio standards last weekend.  Despite fouling out at last month's National Championships, Kohei Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) was added in the men's triple jump after clearing the Rio standard earlier this season with a 16.85 m meet record to win the Kanto Region University Championships.

The official announcement noted that the JAAF has not yet received word from the IAAF concerning relays, where the men's 4x400 m is currently ranked 16th excluding the suspended Russia, and that relay teams would be announced at a later date.  The men's 4x100 m, made up of sprinters on the Rio team as individuals, is already qualified after finishing 5th at the IAAF World Relays.  The announce…