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Kiryu Breaks High School 200 m National Record in 20.41 Nineteen Years After Old Record was Set

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201306/2013061500237&g=spo

translated by Brett Larner



With a time of 10.01 already making him the all-time #2 Japanese man over 100 m, Yoshihide Kiryu (17, Rakunan H.S.) ran 20.41 (+0.5) to break the 200 m high school national record June 15 at the Kinki Region National High School Championships Qualifier at Nara's Konoike Field. The previous record of 20.57 was set at the same meet in 1994 by Kazuhiro Takahashi (Soekami H.S.). Having eclipsed that record by a margin of 0.16 seconds nineteen years after it was set, Kiryu now holds both the 100 m and 200 m high school national records.

Kiryu ran 21.81 in the heats and 21.05 in the semifinals, the fastest times in each round. Despite rain at the time of the final he ran perfectly, winning by a gap of more than one second over his nearest competitor.

Translator's note: Kiryu is Japan's eighth man to hit the 2013 World Championships A-standard of 20.52 this season.  The top four, including him, are all aged 21 or younger.  As of this writing Jamaica has five men with the A-standard, while the United States has fifteen including multiple athletes to have previously served drug suspensions.

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