Skip to main content

Takayuki Matsumiya Wins Olympic Selection 10000m at Japanese National Track & Field Championships

by Brett Larner



5000 m national record holder and 30 km world record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica-Minolta) won the Japanese National Track and Field Championships men`s 10000 m for the third straight year at Kawasaki`s Todoroki Stadium on June 26. Under the Japanese Olympic selection system, an athlete holding an Olympic A-standard time will be guaranteed a spot on the Beijing Olympics team if he or she wins an event at this year`s National Championships. With the absence of Waseda University senior Kensuke Takezawa, Matsumiya was the only runner in the field entering the competition with an A-standard qualifying time after running 27:41.75 at last month`s Cardinal Invitational. His 27:51.27 victory here, while itself falling short of the A-standard, met the selection criteria and was enough to secure Matsumiya a place in the Olympic 10000 m. The other eight runners who broke the 10000 m Olympic B-standard in the National Championships are unlikely to be named to the team but must wait until June 30 when Rikuren will announce the complete team membership.

Fresh from securing a spot on the Japanese national team for October`s World Half Marathon Championships by finishing as top Japanese at the Sapporo International Half Marathon less than two weeks ago, Chuo Gakuin University senior Masato Kihara took the race out hard, immediately taking the lead position in a pack including all the top Japanese professionals. Immediately behind Kihara was junior national record holder Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei), who competed in the Athens Olympics 10000 m as an 18-year old, followed by Ono`s Athens teammate Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku). Strung out behind the leading three was a large pack led by the man with the fastest PB in the field, Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu), with Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) and Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin) right behind. Matsumiya sat back in the middle of the pack.

Kihara took the pack through the first km in 2:43. Through 5 km nothing changed among the leaders until Kihara, noting with the 13:59 5k split that the pace had slowed, put on a surge to keep the pace on track to break 28 minutes. Ono followed, but the two opened a small gap on Omori. The move was enough to break things up as Mitsuya, Irifune and Matsumiya went past Omori to regain contact with the two leaders.

At 6500 m Irifune went wide to try to move past Mitsuya into third, but the move was unsuccessful and he returned to the fourth postion on the back curve. At the same time, Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) went past Omori to move into the sixth. At 7500 m Matsumiya made his first move of the race, accelerating down the home straight to pass Kihara before the curve, with Irifune moving out to follow. Kihara covered the move and the two were forced to step back into the line. The top six were now Kihara, Ono, Matsumiya, Mitsuya, Irifune and Maeda, with Kitamura and Omori at the head of the chase pack. Ono ran slightly on the outside, effectively boxing Matsumiya in behind Kihara.

By 8200 m the professionals had had enough of the ambitious university student Kihara`s lead. Ono made a quick attack, streaking past Kihara and opening the door for Matsumiya to move as well. Mitsuya, Irifune and Maeda rapidly followed suit, but Kihara managed to hold on to the rear of the pack. 200 m later as the group entered the back straight Matsumiya moved out to set up his final push, but behind him Kihara put on an astonishing spurt to pass Irifune and Maeda and regain contact with the three leaders. Matsumiya would not have it, launching his kick the moment Kihara arrived and taking the lead for the first time. Only Mitsuya was able to follow, as first Kihara then Ono dropped away. By 8800 m Mitsuya also began to fade, and the race was Matsumiya`s. Ono caught Mitsuya at 9 km but was unable to match Matsumiya`s 2:39 final kilometer and had to settle for an anguished second place in 27:55.16. Mitsuya was the last man to break 28 minutes, third in 27:58.63, his season best but doubtless a disappointment.

Maeda had a sensational final kilometer to take fourth. Irifune, Kihara, Tomoaki Bungo (Team Asahi Kasei), Omori, Kitamura and Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku) finished in rapid succession after him, with Kihara, Bungo and Nakao recording personal bests. The top nine finishers met the Olympic B-standard, but it is unlikely that any will join Matsumiya in Beijing later this summer.

The Japanese National Track and Field Championships continue on June 27 with the women`s 10000 m, featuring a highly-anticipated battle between 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), 3000 m, 5000 m and half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), the rising star Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), and darkhorse Noriko Matsuoka (Team Suzuki).

leader`s splits:
1 km: 2:43 2 km: 5:29 3 km: 8:18 4 km: 11:09 5 km: 13:59
6 km: 16:49 7 km: 19:40 8 km: 22:34 9 km: 25:12 10 km: 27:51.27

Top Finishers:
1. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica-Minolta): 27:51.27 (selected for Olympic team)
2. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei): 27:55.16
3. Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu): 27:58.63 (SB)
4. Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko): 28:00.29
5. Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo): 28:05.44
6. Masato Kihara (Chuo Gakuin Univ.): 28:06.48 (PB)
7. Tomoaki Bungo (Team Asahi Kasei): 28:07.20 (PB)
7. Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku): 28:07.20
9. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 28:09.22
10. Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku): 28:10.19 (PB)

Complete results are available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Roberto said…
"The top nine finishers met the Olympic B-standard, but it is unlikely that any will join Matsumiya in Beijing later this summer."

I would imagine that anyone who manages an A-standard time prior to the team selection, assuming a decent finish in last night's race, would have a good chance at selection?
June 27, 2008 at 4:14 PM
Roberto said…
Okay, I heard you say during the video that they're announcing the team on June 30. So, no time to get an A.

Never mind!
June 27, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Brett Larner said…
In principle yes, but apart from Matsumiya and Takezawa, who didn`t run, nobody else had run the A-standard within the qualification period.
June 27, 2008 at 4:32 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7Ëš at the start and rising to 12Ëš with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for  a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more