by Brett Larner
On the final day of this weekend's Japanese National Track & Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama, three more athletes secured guaranteed places on the Japanese national team for this summer's Daegu World Championships, with five additional athletes securing the right combination of placing and time to stand a chance of being selected for the team. Below is a summary of results from all event finals held on Day Three of the championships.
In noteworthy performances apart from the men's and women's 5000 m:
-2009 World Championships men's javelin medalist Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) threw a meet record 82.75 m on his first throw of the day to secure his twelfth-straight national title and a place in Daegu.
-Six-time defending men's 400 m champion Yuzo Kanemaru (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) made it seven. Kanemaru was challenged in the home straight by Hideyuki Hirose (Keio Univ.) who finished less than 0.2 seconds behind thanks to a strong finish.
-Defending champions Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) and Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex AC) won again in the men's 800 m and women's 400 mH. 100 m champion Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tec) AC doubled with the 200 m win and will likely double in Daegu. Other past champions including Masashi Eriguchi (Team Osaka Gas) and Kumiko Imura (iDEAR AC) took back their titles but have yet to clear the World Championships qualifying standards. For many, their chances will come at next month's Asian Track & Field Championships, to be held in Kobe in early July.
For video of track events from the final day of the National Championships click the event headers in the results listings below.
2011 Japanese National Track & Field Championships - Day Three
Kumagaya Dome, Kumagaya, Saitama, 6/12/11
Athletes in bold have secured places on the Daegu World Championships team.
Athletes in italics have possibility of being selected for a place on the Japanese team.
1. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 15:09.96 - PB
2. Hitomi Niiya (Chiba Pref.) - 15:20.35
3. Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:42.85
1. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) - 13:15.76 - PB
2. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 13:37.41
3. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:38.19
1. Akari Kishikawa (Hasegawa AC) - 2:03.34
2. Ruriko Kubo (Team Edion) - 2:04.46
3. Ayako Jinnouchi (Team Kyudenko) - 2:05.78
1. Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 1:47.24
2. Takefumi Noguchi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:48.34
3. Yasuhiro Makino (Yutic AC) - 1:48.36
1. Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex AC) - 55.81
2. Miyabi Tago (J. Vic AC) - 56.90
3. Shiori Miki (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 56.92
1. Yuzo Kanemaru (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 45.68
2. Hideyuki Hirose (Keio Univ.) - 45.84
3. Yusuke Ishitsuka (Team Mizuno) - 46.20
1. Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaio Hi-Tec AC) - 23.44
2. Hanna Ichikawa (Chukyo Univ.) - 23.62
3. Nao Okabe (Team Mizuno) - 23.97
1. Ayako Kimura (Team Edion) - 13.32
2. Airi Ito (Kansai Univ.) - 13.48
3. Chie Kiriyama (Chukyo Univ.) - 13.56
1. Masashi Eriguchi (Team Osaka Gas) - 10.38
2. Yusuke Otani (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 10.40
3. Sota Kawatsura (Chuo Univ.) - 10.49
Women's Long Jump
1. Kumiko Imura (iDEAR AC) - 6.39 m
Women's Discus
1. Yuka Murofushi (Team Mizuno) - 51.85 m
Men's High Jump
1. Naoto Tobe (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2.22 m
Men's Javelin
1. Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 82.75 m - MR
Men's Shot Put
1. Yohei Murakawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 18.35 m
(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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