Skip to main content

Berlin World Championships - Day Three

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet.

by Brett Larner

2009 men's 10000 m national champion Yuki Iwai ran in the 10000 m on the third day of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Having experienced problems with his right Achilles tendon since winning the national title in June, Iwai was visibly wincing during his warmup and while stretching on the starting line and he fared accordingly in the race. In last place in the field of 30 after only a lap, Iwai soon lost contact with the group and was overtaken by the leaders twice in the course of the race which saw winner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a new World Championships record of 26:46.31, all three medalists break 27 minutes, and the top 14 set season or lifetime bests.

In light of Rikuren's questionable decision to omit 27:38 runner Yuki Sato from the team Iwai was the sole Japanese runner, and unlike the five athletes who dropped out of the race he undoubtedly felt pressure to finish no matter what. Gutting out his last-place 29:24.12 was an impressive testament to his strength, but the pain he was obviously experiencing suggested he may have done more serious injury. What comes next for this talented runner remains to be seen.

With the withdrawal of two-time Olympic medalist Koji Murofushi from the men's hammer throw the only other Japanese athletes active on Day Three were women's 400 m hurdlers Satomi Kubokura and Sayaka Aoki. Kubokura, the 2009 national champion, missed making the second round by only 0.18 seconds. Aoki, a university star in her first season as a professional, was among the leaders when she caught her trailing leg on the fourth hurdle and fell face first. She got up and continued to run but finished over six seconds back from the next runner ahead of her.

2009 World Championships - Top Results
Men's 10000 m
1. Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - 26:46.31 - CR
2. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 26:50.12 - SB
3. Moses Masai (Kenya) - 26:57.39 - SB
4. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) - 27:15.94 - PB
5. Bernard Kipyego (Kenya) - 27:18.47 - SB
6. Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 27:22.28 - PB
7. Micah Kogo (Kenya) - 27:26.33 - SB
8. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:37.99 - SB
9. Kidane Tadasse (Eritrea) - 27:41.50 - PB
10. Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam (Ethiopia) - 27:44.04 - SB
-----
25. Yuki Iwai (Japan) - 29:24.12

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Not that it really matters, but I think it`s only a seasonal best for Galen Rupp (PB of 27:33 in 2007).

Joe
August 20, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Brett Larner said…
Whoops, typo, thanks.
August 20, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

10000 m National Championships Preview

  Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under
3 comments
Read more

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a
1 comment
Read more

Weekend Track and Road Roundup

  The Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon aside, a quick roundup of results from this past weekend: At the Nittai University Time Trials , aka the Nittaidai Challenge Games, Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) led a great men's 10000 m A-heat in 27:20.05, with the top six men all going under 27:28. James Mutuku (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) was the only other collegiate runner among them at 3rd in 27:23.09, with 2:06 marathoner Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) the top Japanese finisher at 8th in 28:23.27. Mutuku's YGU teammate Brian Kipyegon won the 5000 m A-heat in 13:30.88, James Karuri (Aomori Yamada H.S.) next in 13:33.67 and Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) 3rd in 13:48.44. Soya Katayama (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) had the fastest 1500 m with a 3:46.19 to win the A-heat. In the women's races at Nittai, Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was the only one to clear 16 minutes in the 5000 m A-heat, running 15:27.12 for the win. Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.) was likewise the only one u
Post a Comment
Read more