World Youth Championships - Japanese Entries (updated)

by Brett Larner

click here to watch the IAAF World Youth Championships live online

The IAAF World Youth Championships get underway tomorrow, July 6, in Lille, France. As is to be expected, Japan's best medal chances among its team of 37 come in the sprints and long distances.

Kazuma Oseto (Ogura Higashi H.S.) comes to the boys' 100 m as the #1 seed, his PB of 10.39 leading the field. His teammates Kazuya Tsukamoto (Heisei H.S.) and Tatsuro Suwa (Yotsukaichi Kogyo H.S.) are also in the top eight on the entry list by PB, making the chances of at least one medal very good. All three runners are also on the list for the sprint medley relay, where the Japanese team is ranked 4th by a slim margin behind South Africa. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Sensatsu Seishukan H.S.) is ranked 3rd in the men's 200 m with a best of 20.91, Oseto and Suwa entered to double with marks not far off Hashimoto's. In the girls' 100 m Anna Doi (Saitama Sakae H.S.) is ranked 3rd by PB, 11.60, Yumi Nobayashi (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) a short distance back in the field with a best of 11.73.

In the boys' 3000 m Yuki Hirota (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) and Yusuke Uchikoshi (Kugayama H.S.) will be harder-pressed for hardware, the faster of the two, Hirota ranked only 8th by PB, 8:20.20, with neither of the Ethiopian entries listing qualification times or PBs. The 3000 m girls look to have a better chance, with top-ranked Japanese high schoolers Tomoka Kimura (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) and Katsuki Suga (Kojokan H.S.) virtually even with the Kenyan team by PB, 9:04.47 and 9:05.72 respectively. Again, the Ethiopian team does not list any qualification marks or PBs, but regardless with solid performances Kimura and Katsuki should both be in the hunt for a medal. Yui Fukuda (Suma Gakuen H.S.) may also be a factor in girls' 1500 m, ranked 5th in the field with a best of 4:18.07 from earlier this season. Her teammate Shiho Takeda (Tokiwa H.S.) is not far behind with a PB of 4:20.92.

The IAAF World Youth Championships run from July 6-10. Click here for complete entry lists.

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