japan running news

On July 18, JAAF sprint director  Hiroyasu Tsuchie announced that another coach and three more athletes at the Oregon 22 World Championships, 200 m and 4x100 m team member Yuki Koike , 110 m hurdler Shunsuke Izumiya , and 400 m hurdler Takayuki Kishimoto , have tested positive for COVID-19. They bring the total number of people on the Japanese national team to have tested positive at the Championships to 15. "The impact is enormous," said Tsuchie. "Our team this team included a core of younger athletes who had been set to gain valuable experience." The first athletes to test positive were three of the marathoners, but it has now spread to the sprints and hurdles squads. Koike reported having a fever the morning of the 200 m heats, and when his test results came back positive he was forced to withdraw from what would have been his first race, the 200 m heats. He has also withdrawn from the 4x100 m relay. Tsuchie commented, "Up to this point he had been peaking ...

by Brett Larner click here for part two Japan's 71st National Sports Festival cleared the midpoint of its five days of athletics competition Sunday.  Meet records have fallen in five events so far, the highlight being the men's 10000 m race walk where Rio Olympians Eiki Takahashi (Team Fujitsu) and Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) dueled to push each other under the meet record, national record holder Takahashi setting a solid new mark of 38:21.88 but national junior record holder Matsunaga also more than 25 seconds under the old record set two years ago by 20 km world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu). Another Rio Olympian, women's 100 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) duly took the 100 m final in 11.66 ( +0.5 m/s ).  Two members of the Rio silver medal-winning Japanese 4x100 m men's relay team, national champion Asuka Cambridge (Dome) and Ryota Yamagata (Seiko), were scheduled to run the 100 m, but while Yamagata won h...

This is how they watch track in Japan. pic.twitter.com/MuhnnTVrFT — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) August 22, 2015 Beijing, China, 8/22/15 click here for complete results Men's 100 m Heat 1 -0.1 m/s 1. Asafa Powell (Jamaica) - 9.95 - Q 2. Bingtian Su (China) - 10.03 - Q 3. Akani Simbine (South Africa) - 10.09 - Q 4. Kei Takase (Japan) - 10.15 Men's 10000 m 1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 27:01.13 2. Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (Kenya) - 27:01.76 3. Paul Tanui (Kenya) - 27:02.83 4. Bedan Karoki (Kenya) - 27:04.77 5. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:08.91 ----- 18. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Japan) - 28:25.77 22. Kenta Murayama (Japan) - 29:50.22 23. Yuta Shitara (Japan) - 30:08.35 Men's 400 mH Heat 1 1. Nicholas Bett (Kenya) - 48.37 - Q 2. Timofey Chalyy (Russia) - 49.05 - Q 3. Jeffery Gibson (Bahamas) - 49.09 - Q --- 8. Takayuki Kishimoto (Japan) - 49.78 Men's 400 mH Heat 2 1. Boniface Mucheru Tumuti (Kenya) - 48.79 - Q 2. Michael Tinsley (U.S.A.) - 48...

by Brett Larner Day Four of the 2013 Moscow World Championships was a slow one for the Japanese contingent.  In the men's 5000 m heats, all-time Japanese #3 Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) ran despite having twisted an ankle during the 10000 m, largely passive except for one move in the final kilometer before finishing 11th in 13:37.07.  He did not advance to the final.  400 m hurdler Takayuki Kishimoto  (Team Fujitsu), a strong prospect for the final, also did not advance after he false started.  In the women's 20 km race walk, national record holder  Masumi Fuchise  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) went out fast and was in range of the bronze medal pack until the very last stage of the race when she faded to 29th in 1:33:13.  Among those who overtook her was teammate Kumi Otoshi  (Team Fujitsu), who took 26th in 1:32:44. Moscow World Championships Day Four Moscow, 8/13/14 click here for complete results Men's 5000 m Heat Two 1. Muktar ...

by Brett Larner On the third day of competition at the Moscow World Championships the biggest Japanese performances came in the men's 400 m hurdles and men's pole vault. Takayuki Kishimoto  (Team Fujitsu) finished 3rd in his 400 m hurdles heat to gain an automatic qualifying spot for the semi-final, the only one of Japan's four male and female hurdlers to advance at this distance and with a realistic chance of making the final.  In the pole vault, national champion Seito Yamamoto  (Chukyo Univ.) cleared 5.75 m to take 6th, a PB by 4 cm that made him the only athlete in the top ten to set a new PB at the World Championships.  Hammer great Koji Murofushi  (Mizuno) also took 6th, throwing a season best 78.03 m.  Along with hurdlers Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex AC), Yasuhiro Fueki  (Team Aima) and Takatoshi Abe (Chukyo Univ.), men's 400 m national champion Yuzo Kanemaru  (Team Otsuka) also missed out on advancing, finishing last in his semi-f...

by Brett Larner 2010 World Junior Championships men's 200 m gold medalist Shota Iizuka  (Chuo Univ.) and London 400 m hurdles Olympian Takayuki Kishimoto  (Team Fujitsu) joined the small ranks of athletes to earn guaranteed places on the Japanese team for the Moscow World Championships, winning their events with A-standard times on the final day of the 2013 Japanese National Track and Field Championships . Iizuka led five men under the 20.52 A-standard, winning in 20.31 (+0.9) to secure his position.   Yuichi Kobayashi (Team NTN) ran a PB 20.46 in 2nd and  Kei Takase (Team Fujitsu) clocked 20.48 for 3rd, both putting themselves into solid consideration for the team.  Kishimoto had a mid-race scare from the ascendant Yasuhiro Fueki  (Team Aima) who overtook him on the back curve only to fall victim to Kishimoto's closing speed.  Kishimoto took 1st in 49.08 with Fueki 2nd in an A-standard PB 49.31, like Kobayashi and Takase getting onto the shortli...

by Brett Larner Niiya, Yoshikawa and Fukushi set the tone of the women's 10000 m. Photo courtesy Martin Lever, www.one-man-running-club.com The highlights of the first day of track and field competition at the London Olympics on the Japanese team came courtesy of two of the best people returning from the Daegu World Championships team. In the women's 10000 m, Japanese runners Kayoko Fukushi  (Team Wacoal), Hitomi Niiya  (Team Univ. Ent.) and Mika Yoshikawa  (Team Panasonic) would have none of the slow pace the rest of the field set, breaking away as a trio to lead a 3:06 opening km, joined by Ireland's Fionnuala Britton .  Niiya, the 5000 m national champion and the greatest credit to the Japanese track contingent in Daegu, took over the lead from Fukushi after 1000 m and, showing no signs of it being only her second track 10000 m, held position until nearly 5000 m even after the Kenyan and Ethiopian contingents took the Japanese challenge seriously an...

by Brett Larner Japan's best chances for athletics medals in London may come in the men's 400 m hurdles and 50 km race walk.  Hosei University's Takayuki Kishimoto  dropped a major PB of 48.41 to win June's National Championships/Olympic Trials and find himself ranked 5th in the world and 4th in the Olympic field.  With little championship experience to his name it will be tough for him to stand up to the pressure of his Olympic debut, but still on an upward roll he could edge his way in for some hardware. 50 km race walk national record holder Yuki Yamazaki  (SDF Academy) comes into the Olympics ranked 5th in the field by season best despite being well off his best.  With at least nine men holding faster PB marks it won't be easy for him to break into the medals, but a solid performance could earn him the bronze. On the subject of bronze, the Japanese men's 4x100 m relay comes to London as the defending bronze medal squad.  Only one member of the Bei...

by Brett Larner Day Two of the 2012 Japanese Olympic Trials was bracketed by two classic performances, one an Olympic-qualifying national record and the other an unforgettable duel between a World Championships medalist and the best of the next generation.  Five athletes altogether met the Federation's requirement of a win and an Olympic A-standard mark to secure their places on the London team, while another half-dozen stand a good chance of joining them. The national record came without warning in the women's pole vault, where Tomomi Abiko  (Shiga Lake Stars AC) executed a large PB to unexpectedly clear 4.40 m, a new NR by 4 cm and the first-ever Japanese woman's mark hitting the Olympic B-standard.  Abiko was short of the A-standard mark, but with no other Japanese woman qualified for the Olympics in the pole vault it is hard to see her staying home.  Less certain is the fate of women's 100 mH champion Ayako Kimura  (Team Edion), who like Abiko only holds...

by Brett Larner Click here for JRN's middle and long distance preview. Marathon team medals aside, Japan's only medals at the last Olympics and subsequent two World Championships came in events outside distance running, with the men's 4x100 m relay team winning bronze in Beijing, Yukifumi Murakami  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) taking men's javelin bronze in Berlin in 2009 and 2004 Athens Olympics men's hammer throw gold medalist Koji Murofushi  (Mizuno) making a comeback for gold last summer in Daegu.  Half of the Beijing relay team, Murakami and Murofushi all return this year to the 96th Japanese National Track & Field Championships , doubling as the Olympic Trials June 8-10 at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, where they earn places on the London Olympic team if they win their events and hold an A-standard mark. Beijing relay team member Shinji Takahira  (Team Fujitsu) leads the way in the men's 200 m, where three men hold Olympic A-standard times.  His training par...

by Brett Larner On what will no doubt be one of the last summery days of the season, the 2010 Super Meet in Kawasaki took place under sunny skies on Sept. 19. Many of the major international stars including high jumper Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) and sprinter Christophe Lemaitre (France) duly picked up late-season wins, while all but two of the top Japanese entrants fell short of 1st. A summary of the results: 2010 Super Meet in Kawasaki - Top Results click here for complete results click event headers for video Women's 800 m 1. Elena Kofanova (Russia) - 2:00.46 2. Tetiana Petliuk (Ukraine) - 2:01.01 3. Ruriko Kubo (Team Deodeo) - 2:03.09 Men's 400 m 1. Nery Brenes (Costa Rica) - 46.14 2. Sean Wroe (Australia) - 46.27 3. Yusuke Ishitsuka (Team Mizuno) - 46.30 Men's 100 m 1. Christophe Lemaitre (France) - 10.26 2. Wallace Spearmon (U.S.A.) - 10.47 3. Ramil Guliyev (Azerbaijan) - 10.50 Women's 100 m 1. Tianna Madison (U.S.A.) - 11.32 2. Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido HiTec AC)...