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…
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…