In front of an almost sellout crowd packing the stadium to see the breakthrough Taiwanese men's sprinters in action, Japan wrapped the final day of athletics competition at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade with a pair of 4x100 m relay medals that assured it the top spot on the overall medal table.
The women's 4x100 m team, comprised of Ichiko Iki, Miyu Maeyama, Mizuki Nakamura and Sayaka Takeuchi, were well off lead pair Kazakhstan and Switzerland through the race, lagging a relatively short distance behind bronze medal position Poland. Japan crossed the finish line in 4th in 44.56, breaking a collegiate national record that had stood for almost 11 years but short of the medals. That changed on review, though, when winners and defending gold medalists Kazakhstan were disqualified for a lane violation. The DQ bumped Japan up to an unexpected bronze medal.
The atmosphere in the stadium was raucous for the men's 4x100 m featuring Taiwan's very own 100 m gold medalist a…
The women's 4x100 m team, comprised of Ichiko Iki, Miyu Maeyama, Mizuki Nakamura and Sayaka Takeuchi, were well off lead pair Kazakhstan and Switzerland through the race, lagging a relatively short distance behind bronze medal position Poland. Japan crossed the finish line in 4th in 44.56, breaking a collegiate national record that had stood for almost 11 years but short of the medals. That changed on review, though, when winners and defending gold medalists Kazakhstan were disqualified for a lane violation. The DQ bumped Japan up to an unexpected bronze medal.
The atmosphere in the stadium was raucous for the men's 4x100 m featuring Taiwan's very own 100 m gold medalist a…