japan running news

Day three of the National Track and Field Championships saw a few of the expected favorites prevail and a few unexpectedly fall short. In the women's 100 m hurdles 2019 Asian champion Ayako Kimura (Edion) won a very close race over Masumi Aoki (Nanajunana Ginko) and Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) in 13.14 (+0.6 m/s) to secure her spot back in Doha this fall. In the men's 400 m hurdles Takatoshi Abe (Yamada Denki) came back from a weak semi-final to win in 48.80, likewise guaranteeing himself a place on Japan's World Championships team. 2nd-place Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) was also under the Doha standard in 49.05, making himself a likely addition to the final team roster to be announced in September.

The women's 3000 m steeplechase saw an under-20 national record as Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) broke away from defending champion Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) and the rest of the lead pack after 2000 m to win in 9:50.44. In the race of the day, Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Un…

Day two of the 2019 Japanese National Track and Field Championships saw heavy rain hit the roofless Hakatanomori Field midway through the desultory late afternoon schedule, impacting the men's javelin throw, women's pole vault and women's long jump and leaving the track slick for the evening's main events.

Just before the first wave of rain struck, Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.), the only woman in the javelin throw to have cleared the Doha World Championships standard, opened with a national championships record 62.68 m that pretty much wrapped up her win. On her fourth throw Kitaguchi extended the record to 63.68 m, her final winning mark and securing her a place in Doha. In the final round of throws Yuka Mori (Nikoniko Nori) unexpectedly bettered Kitaguchi's first-round record with a PB of 62.88 m as the first few drops began to fall.

By the time the men's javelin got started it was a full on downpour, with race officials desperately trying to push a deepeni…

The 2019 Japanese National Track and Field Championships got rolling Thursday at Fukuoka's Hakatanomori Field. Men's high jump national record holder Naoto Tobe (JAL) became the first athlete at Nationals to secure a place on the Doha World Championships team, clearing 2.27 m on his first attempt while his three remaining competitors including last year's national champ Takashi Eto (Ajinomoto) all maxed out at 2.24 m. Tobe attempted 2.30 m after securing the win but missed all three attempts.

Naoto Tobe very smooth in winning men’s high jump at Nationals. pic.twitter.com/UbqxexzFNE — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) June 28, 2019
Japan's year leader in the 1500 m Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) outkicked half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) over the last lap to take the men's 5000 m final with a season best 13:41.27. Shitara's fellow 2:06 marathoner Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) led the chase pack behind breakaway leader Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) mid-r…

The sprints and hurdles are where Japan is at its strongest outside the marathon. With everything pointing toward next year's Tokyo Olympics it's an interesting repetition of history that the two most exciting events right now are the same ones that saw Japan's first-ever Olympians back in 1912, the men's marathon and the men's 100 m.

And all hail the new king in the 100 m. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) is the national record holder and heavy-duty favorite to take the win at this weekend's National Track and Field Championships. If he wins he's guaranteed a spot at the Doha World Championships. Likewise for his predecessor as NR holder, Yoshihide Kiryu (Nissay) and the newest addition to the top level of Japanese sprinting, Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko). The currently #2-ranked Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) is sadly a DNS, leaving it pretty much up to these three guys. But there's so much depth these days that even if one of them craps out Japan sho…

The 2019 National Track and Field Championships start Thursday. With the 10000 m having been held last month in hopes of maximizing people's chances of hitting the standards for the Doha World Championships instead of doubling in the 5000 m, from 800 m to 5000 m, including the 3000 m steeplechase, the only event that has people already with the Doha standard set to toe the starting line is the women's 5000 m. It's also the only event that has African pacers lined up. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC), Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) and Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) have all cleared the 15:22 Doha standard inside the window, and if any of them wins she'll be named to the team. Others will have to wait until September for the JAAF's final decision. 10000 m national champion Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) is the one who could ruin it for them, not holding the standard but having run 15:10.91 last year. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) and Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) s…

Continuing on from yesterday's National Track and Field Championships jumps preview, today we look at throws. It's Japan's relatively weakest area, with the only real contenders to make the Doha World Championships coming in the women's and men's javelin throw.

In the women's javelin, Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) is the only athlete in the throws, female or male, to have cleared the Doha standard, her 64.36 m in May ranking her #9 worldwide as of this writing. A win at Nationals will be good enough to guarantee her a spot on the national team. Two other women, last year's 3rd-placer Risa Miyashita (MPE) and Orie Ushiro (Niigata Albirex RC), are just outside the worldwide top 32 and could break through if they can deliver PB performances. Last year's top two Marina Saito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Yuka Mori (Nikoniko Nori) are also in range, making the women's javelin one of the best events at this year's Nationals.

Defending men's champion…

Japan's National Track and Field Championships kick off this Thursday in Fukuoka. It's the start of an important cycle for Japan, with national representation at this fall's Doha World Championships on the line in the lead-up to next year's Tokyo Olympics. Anyone who has cleared the Doha standard in their event will make the team if they win at Nationals, with other qualifiers and hgh-ranked athletes having to wait until mid-September to learn their fates. Over the next four days JRN will break down the favorites in each event.

In the jumps, not a single athlete in any event on the women's side looks to have a realistic chance of making it to Doha without a big PB in the next couple of months. All four of last year's women's national champions, Haruka Nakano (Nippatsu) in the high jump, Juri Nanbu (Chukyo Univ.) in the pole vault, Ayaka Kora (Tsukuba Univ.) in the long jump and Eri Sakamoto (Nihon Shitsunai TC) in the triple jump, return. Of them only Kora…

The JAAF has released the entry lists for the 2019 National Track and Field Championships to be held June 27-30 in Fukuoka. Anyone who has the standard for this fall's Doha World Championships and wins their event will be guaranteed a place on the Doha team, with most others having to wait until the IAAF's September deadline to find out if the JAAF will add them based on qualifying standard or world ranking. Fifteen athletes on the Nationals entry list across nine events currently have the standard and stand to firm up their fall schedules in Fukuoka, with another twenty in range of making the final cut based on current world rankings. Entry list highlights below.
103rd National Track and Field ChampionshipsEntry List Highlights
Fukuoka, June 27-30, 2019
marks listed are best in last two years except where noted
athletes in bold have cleared 2019 Doha World Championships standard
athletes in italics are currently ranked inside Doha field size without standard
complete entry lists
M…

The National Championships 10000 m will be held six weeks earlier than the rest of the meet this year in a bid to help people produce better performances to increase their positions in the world rankings ahead of next year's Tokyo Olympics. The 10000 m will take place May 19 in Osaka as part of the Golden Grand Prix meet.

The women's race includes six of the seven Japanese women who have cleared the 2019 Doha World Championships standard of 31:50.00, the only absence being Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Denko), 31:28.20 at December's Corporate Women's Time Trials meet. Of them, only #2-ranked Hitomi Niiya (Nike Tokyo TC) has cleared the more demanding 31:25.00 Tokyo Olympic standard with a 31:22.63 in her silver medal-winning run at last month's Asian Athletics Championships.

With no Japanese men under either the 27:40.00 Doha standard or the 27:28.00 Olympic standard the men's race includes four Japan-based Kenyans to try to pull them along to at least the D…

Marathon national record holder Suguru Osako (27, Nike Oregon Project), aggressively criticized the JAAF on his personal Twitter account on Apr. 23 after not being allowed to enter the National Championships without a qualifying time.

Osako had sought entry to next month's National Championships 10000 m under a clause in the qualifying rules that lets the JAAF's high performance committee admit people who haven't hit the Nationals A-standard, but said his request was turned down because it might hurt other athletes' chances of qualifying for the World Championships and Olympics. He criticized the selection criteria. The same day the JAAF gave a public statement on its position, leading Osako to post a further string of tweets in response.

日本選手権、[本連盟強化委員が特に推薦する本連盟登録競技者]
という枠で出場しようと試みましたが、叶いませんでした.....。
陸連強化委員からの[大迫くんが日本選手権でいい走りをするとそれに負けた選手のランキングが下がり、不平不満が出るから]という理由でした。すごい理由だな。笑笑 pic.twitter.com/VX074DzGO1 — suguru osako (@sugurusako) April 23, 2019
Osako wrote:

"I…