Skip to main content

Iizuka Redux: The Future King of Japanese Sprinting?

I don't particularly care about sprinting but I can't stop watching this video, so here it is again. Ladies and gentlemen, freshman anchor Shota Iizuka singlehandedly gives Chuo University a 1-second margin of victory over Waseda University and the Japanese national university record of 38.54 in the men's 4 x 100 m relay at the Kanto Regional University T&F Championships in Tokyo's National Stadium on May 22, 2010.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The hand offs for Chuo were amazing but that anchor leg was absolutely ridiculous. Any idea of split?
Anonymous said…
How tall is Shota?
Brett Larner said…
He was quite a lot bigger than the other guys but I haven't been able to find his exact height. I'll update it if I do.

No official splits either, but I time him at 9.25 from the time the baton touches his hand to when he crosses the finish line. Anyone with better knowledge of sprint relay split timing feel free to offer a better estimate.

One of the Japanese comments compared the video to the Beijing Olympic final. The comment says Iizuka ran 8.13 from the line on the corner, while Asahara, the anchor on Japan's bronze medal team in Beijing, ran 8.24 and Powell ran 7.80. The guy who filmed this also says that it was like watching a bunch of junior high school kids racing a pro.
Matt said…
Looking forward to seeing more of Shota in the future.
Goto said…
His height was 184cm (and 75kg) when he was in high school.
He might have got a little bit taller though.

I was really impressed by him the last year when he won 100m for the National Athletic Meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpM2fNmHXo
He clocked his PB of 10.38 in the pretty cold and raining condition, which I thought was great.
But that run is much more impressive!
It is a shame he will avoid the Japanese national the next month in favor of the World Junior Championships.

BTW thanx for all the videos you are uploading!
Brett Larner said…
Goto--

Thanks for all that info. I'm sure a lot of people are grateful.

184 cm! Wow, that is big for a Japanese guy. He is taller than me.
Brett Larner said…
Matt--

There you go.

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .