japan running news

by Brett Larner

The big overseas names cleaned up at the Super Track and Field Meet in Kawasaki on Sept. 23, 2009. Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Gary Kikaya, Dwight Thomas, Perdita Felicien, Felix Sanchez, Tatiana Lebedeva, Teemu Wirkkala, Reese Hoffa and others all consigned the hosts' national champions to the runner-up spot or lower. Only women's 400 m national champion Asami Tanno (Team Natureal) and pole vaulter Takafumi Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) took the top spots in their events, while pole vault national champion Daichi Sawano (Team Nishi) and high jump national champion Naoyuki Daigo (Team Fujitsu) struggled with apparent injuries and could not clear the bar even once. Some highlights:



Tyson Gay ran a relatively desultory 10.13 to win the 100 m, running even with national champion Masashi Eriguchi (Waseda Univ.) and Beijing Olympics 4x100 m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara (Team Fujitsu) until accelerating in the final stage just enough to ensure the win. Eriguchi appeared …

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet.

by Brett Larner

Just days after setting a sizeable PB in the women's 10000 m to become the all-time #4 Japanese woman over the distance, 2009 national champion Yurika Nakamura came out tough again in the first heat of the women's 5000 m. Nakamura led for the first two kilometers at a relatively modest 15:30 pace before the big guns went to work. She managed to trail along in the lead pack and, with little hope of competing in the final kick, pushed back to the front in the final kilometer for a long surge. Outkicked over the last lap, Nakamura nevertheless rolled on to a negative split 6th place finish, clocking a PB of 15:21.01 and succeeding in advancing to the final on time despite having the slowest PB in the field coming into the race, development program runners aside. Her achievements at this year's World Championships mark Nakamura …

by Brett Larner

The field events at the 2009 Japanese National Track and Field Championships begin at 1:00 p.m. on June 25 with the women's high jump. With one exception Japan is not really known for its strength in field events, but nevertheless a fair number of athletes stand a chance of making the national team for this summer's World Championships in Berlin. To be guaranteed a place on the team athletes must hold a World Championships A or B standard mark and win their event at Nationals, and in the majority of the field events there is at least one contender.

Japan's strongest field athlete is of course its two-time Olympic medalist in the men's hammer throw, the half-Japanese Koji Murofushi (Team Mizuno). Murofushi will be making his 15th straight National Championships appearance and on the strength of his medal-winning performance at last summer's Beijing Olympics he is in all likelihood already assured a spot on the team. His nearest competitor Hiroaki Doi (…

by Brett Larner

The 2009 Japanese National Track and Field Championships take place June 25-28 in Hiroshima. Winning athletes who hold a World Championships A or B qualifying mark will be automatically selected for the national team Japan will send to Berlin in August. Listed below are the top entrants in each event and the date and time of the finals. Athletes in red possess a valid World Championships A-standard, those in black a valid B-standard, and those in white have yet to qualify. Color marks in the PB column indicate whether the athlete has at some point in his or her career met the World Championships standards. Click on each list for a larger version.

Click here for track event entry lists, here for complete entry lists in Japanese, or here for a complete timetable in Japanese.

June 25, 10:00 a.m. - Men's Decathlon 100 m
June 25, 11:00 a.m. - Men's Decathlon Long Jump

June 25, 1:00 p.m. - Women's High Jump

June 25, 1:00 p.m. - Men's Discus Throw

June 25, 1:00 p.m.…