japan running news

Runner-up at June's National Championships, Marina Saito broke through with a women's javelin collegiate national record 62.37 m throw on her last attempt to take silver at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade. On her second throw Saito marked 61.06 m, the only woman to clear 61 m under Poland's Marcelina Witek threw a PB of 63.31 m on her fifth attempt. Needing a massive throw to retake the top spot, Saito cleared the Japanese university national record by a meter with a PB of 62.37 m and moved up to all-time Japanese #2 but had to settle for silver. The woman whose record she broke, Haruka Kitaguchi , struggled on her first three throws and failed to advance to the top eight, her best throw only 56.30 m. Another medal came in the men's triple jump. Ranked #1 in the qualifying rounds, Ryoma Yamamoto led off with a jump of 16.80 m (+1.7 m/s) that put him into 2nd behind Azerbaijan's Nazim Babeyev . Unable to improve on that, Yamamoto looked set for silver unti...

Following up on Ai Hosod a's bronze medal in the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade women's 10000 m yesterday, Rio Olympian Kazuya Shiojiri capped the second day of athletics competition with 10000 m bronze of his own. Always near the front, Shiojiri helped shape the lead quartet that included defending silver medalist Nicolae Soare (Romania) and Ugandans Sadic Bahati and John Kateregga . All four took turns leading at a steady pace between 2:53 and 2:54/km before Kateregga fell off in the second half. Shiojiri lost a few meters to a short surge by Soare near 7000 m and, although he didn't lose ground, couldn't quite regain his footing. By the time the last duel between Bahati and Soare started Shiojiri was out of range, settling for bronze. Both of the lead pair clocked new PBs despite the humid conditions, Bahati scoring gold in 29:08.68 and Soare silver again in 29:12.76. Shiojiri rolled in 8 seconds back in 29:20.96 to take Japan's second medal of the Games...

Following protests outside the main stadium that interrupted its opening ceremonies Saturday night , the athletics component of the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade is set to start Wedenesday. As always Japan is sending a solid crew of its A-list collegiate talent to the World University Games, with a team of 24 men and 14 women set to compete over the six day run of athletics. Getting things off to a quick start, London World Championships men's 4x100 m bronze medallist Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin University) is set to run the first men's 100 m on the first day on competition. Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo University), Ryo Kajiki (Josai University), Ryoma Yamamoto (Juntendo Univ.) and Marina Saito (Kokushikan University) will also double back from representing Japan in London to compete in Taipei, Kitagawa in the men's 400 m, Kajiki in the men's 400 m hurdles, Yamamoto in the men's triple jump and Saito in the women's javelin throw. London men's 20 km...

The JAAF has made a series of announcements over the last week confirming additions to its small team for next month's London World Championships. Along with previously announced rosters for track and field events, combined events and road events, the following athletes have been added to the Japanese team. Relay members are pending IAAF confirmation. The final complete team roster is expected next week. Men's 400 m Hurdles Ryo Kajiki (Josai Univ.) - 49.33 Yusuke Ishida (Waseda Univ.) - 49.35 Men's 3000 m Steeplechase Hironori Tsuetaki (Fujitsu) - 8:29.05 Men's 4 x 400 m Relay Yuzo Kanemaru (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 45.76 Kosuke Horii (Sumitomo Denko) - 45.88 Women's Javelin Throw Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 61.95 m © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved