japan running news

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)...

by Brett Larner 2009 World University Games men's 400 m gold medalist Yuzo Kanemaru of Hosei University brought the Japanese men's 4x400 m relay time home to bronze on the final day of competition at this year's games. Five-time national champion Kanemaru came from behind on the anchor leg to hold off Belgium by 0.15 seconds to take the medal after passable runs from teammates Hideyuki Hirose, Yusuke Ishitsuka and Kazuaki Yoshida. Australia won with a commanding 3-second lead over silver medalist Poland. Another national champion, 800 m specialist Masato Yokota, came up empty handed in a tight race. Winner Sajad Moradi of Iran clocked 1:48.02 with only 0.02 seconds separating the next three runners. Yokota was the unlucky fourth man. While Kanemaru will go on to run in August's World Championships, Yokota's season is now effectively over. Komazawa University's Tsuyoshi Ugachi was likewise out of luck in the slow and tactical men's 5000 m. Ugachi led the fie...