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Ono`s Olympic Hopes End in Kushiro (updated)

by Brett Larner

Ryuji Ono`s dream of running in his second Olympic 10000 m came to an end on July 16 with his 2nd place 27:54.28 finish in the Hokuren Distance Challenge Kushiro Meet in Kushiro, Hokkaido. Ono, who runs for Team Asahi Kasei, made the 2004 Athens Olympics 10000 m as an 18 year old high school student. Since mid-May he had come frustratingly close to clearing the Beijing Olympics A-standard three times, running 27:56.86 on May 17, 27:53.19 on June 1st, and 27:55.16 at the National Track and Field Championships on June 26. Team Konica-Minolta`s Takayuki Matsumiya won Nationals and held an A-standard time, meaning that Kushiro represented Ono`s last chance of qualifying in advance of the July 23rd deadline to make the Japanese team. Once again he came up short, finishing just behind winner Nicholas Kamau of Team JAL Ground Service.

Other notable results included women`s 1500 m national record holder and Beijing Olympics women`s 5000 m team member Yuriko Kobayashi`s victory in the 3000 m, former Hakone Ekiden star Satoru Kitamura`s win the men`s 3000 m ahead of his teammate Kazuyoshi Tokumoto, and 2008 Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Yuri Kano`s 1st-place finish in the women`s 10000 m. Kano`s time fell short of the Olympic A-standard but was only 1 second off her PB and well faster than her time in last month`s National Track and Field Championships 10000 m, where she was 9th in 32:10.93.

Top Finishers

Women`s 3000 m A-group
1. Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki): 8:54.42
2. Obare Dorika (Team Hitachi): 8:59.79
3. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui): 9:04.93

Women`s 3000 m B-group
1. Kaori Oyama (Team Noritz): 9:26.78
2. Kaori Urata (Team Tenmaya): 9:27.13
3. Yoshie Kitomi (Team Hokuren): 9:32.89

Men`s 3000 m
1. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 8:07.90
2. Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 8:12.28
3. Kazuya Namera (Hokkai Gakuen Univ.): 8:15.19

Women`s 10000 m
1. Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC): 31:54.24
2. Maki Suzawa (Team Kyocera): 32:04.24
3. Takami Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai): 32:29.29

Men`s 10000 m A-group
1. Nicholas Kamau (Team JAL Ground Service): 27:52.32
2. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei): 27:54.28
3. James Mwangi (Team NTN): 27:58.43
4. Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu): 28:25.67
5. Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo): 28:28.86

Men`s 10000 m B-group
1. Akinori Tachibana (Team Nissan): 28:44.72
2. Makoto Harada (Team JR Higashi): 28:49.89
3. Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express): 28:52.36

Men`s 10000 m C-group
1. Naoki Yamashita (Team NTN): 29:04.06
2. Yukinobu Nakazaki (Team Toyota Kyushu): 29:05.57
3. Shun Sato (Team Yakult): 29:07.28

Men`s 10000 m D-group
1. Hayato Ideue (Team Toyota Kyushu): 29:41.97
2. Kazuharu Mori (Team Yachio): 29:48.16
3. ??? Chan (Team Daewoo): 29:50.35

Complete results will be available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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