Skip to main content

Japan Scores Five Half Marathon Medals to Cap World University Games

by Brett Larner

Five days after winning bronze in the women's 10000 m behind gold medalist Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) Mai Tsuda (Ritsumeikan Univ.) bookended Japan's 2013 World University Games with another gold as she outkicked 10000 m silver medalist Alina Prokopyeva (Russia) by five seconds over the final kilometer to win the women's half marathon in 1:13:12 on the final day of athletics competition.  Tsuda and Prokopyeva sat in a pack of nine made up entirely of Japanese and Russian athletes through 15 km before pulling away as a pair, crossing 20 km in 1:09:42 with Yukiko Okuno (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) alone four seconds back in 3rd.  Prokopyeva was outclassed in the final stage of the race and could only watch Tsuda surge away for the gold medal as she took silver in 1:13:18. Okuno held on to the bronze medal position in 1:13:24, nine seconds ahead of Russian Lyudmila Lebedeva.  Although the Russians' third runner came through ahead of Japan's, on aggregate time Japan took the team gold medal by just eight seconds over Russia, China a distant 3rd.

Tsuda's 10000 m teammates Suzuki and Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) also doubled, both running the 5000 m.  Behind Romanian Roxana Elisabeta Birca and Russian Olga Golovkina Suzuki won bronze in 15:51.47.  In a replay of the 10000 m Shoji was shut out of the medals as she placed 4th.

In the men's half marathon national collegiate champion Shogo Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.) was the only runner to go with the three-member South African team from the gun. Outlasting Xolisane Zamkele, Nakamura lost touch with eventual winner Sibabalwe Gladwin Mzazi and 10000 m gold medalist Stephen Mokoka with 5 km to go.  Mzazi took the sprint finish over Mokoka for gold in 1:03:37, Mokoka clocking the same time to add a silver to his 10000 m gold, Nakamura fading to 1:04:21 for bronze.  Hiroki Yamagishi (Jobu Univ.) led the main chase pack for much of the race and was rewarded with a 4th-place finish in 1:04:41.  2013 Hakone Ekiden champion Nittai University captain Shota Hattori took 5th in 1:05:00 to round out Japan's team scoring, but despite Zamkele dropping to 7th in 1:05:38 South Africa came out ahead on aggregate time to win the team gold in 3:12:52.  Japan won silver in 3:14:02, hosts Russia picking up bronze in 3:16:38.

Japan's other medals all came courtesy of student members of the 2012 London Olympics team.  Two-time national champion Seito Yamamoto (Chukyo Univ.) took silver in the men's pole vault, while on the track men's 100 m national champion Ryota Yamagata (Keio Univ.) earned silver and 200 m national champion Shota Iizuka (Chuo Univ.) bronze.  Yamagata and Iizuka also formed half of the men's 4x100 m squad which took silver behind a surprisingly strong Ukraine.  All three medalists are due to compete again in Russia next month at the Moscow World Championships. 

2013 Summer Universiade Summary of Japanese Medalists in Athletics
Kazan, Russia, July 7-12, 2013
click here for complete results

Overall Medal Count:   gold: 3   silver: 4   bronze: 5
Men:   gold: 0   silver: 4   bronze: 2
Women:   gold: 3   silver: 0   bronze: 3

Women's Half Marathon - Individual - July 12
1. Mai Tsuda (Japan) - 1:13:12
2. Alina Prokopyeva (Russia) - 1:13:18
3. Yukiko Okuno (Japan) - 1:13:24
4. Lyudmila Lebedeva (Russia) - 1:13:33
5. Elena Sedova (Russia) - 1:13:58
6. Hitomi Suzuki (Japan) - 1:14:05
7. Ayako Mitsui (Japan) - 1:14:10
8. Natalia Novichkova (Russia) - 1:14:31
9. Yasuka Ueno (Japan) - 1:14:50
10. Olga Skrypak (Ukraine) - 1:15:25

Women's Half Marathon - Team
1. Japan - 3:40:41
2. Russia - 3:40:49
3. China - 3:57:30

Men's Half Marathon - Individual - July 12
1. Sibabalwe Gladwin Mzazi (South Africa) - 1:03:37
2. Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) - 1:03:37
3. Shogo Nakamura (Japan) - 1:04:21
4. Hiroki Yamagishi (Japan) - 1:04:41
5. Shota Hattori (Japan) - 1:05:00
6. Andrey Leyman (Russia) - 1:05:08
7. Xolisane Zamkele (South Africa) - 1:05:38
8. Toshikatsu Ebina (Japan) - 1:05:39
9. Anatoly Rybakov (Russia) - 1:05:41
10. Artem Aplachkin (Russia) - 1:05:49
-----
20. Yuta Shitara (Japan) - 1:08:25

Men's Half Marathon - Team
1. South Africa - 3:12:52
2. Japan - 3:14:02
3. Russia - 3:16:38

Women's 10000 m - July 7
1. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan) - 32:54.17
2. Alina Prokopyeva (Russia) - 33:00.93
3. Mai Tsuda (Japan) - 33:14.59
4. Mai Shoji (Japan) - 33:22.83
5. Natalia Puchkova (Russia) - 33:27.52

Women's 5000 m - July 11
1. Roxana Elisabeta Birca (Romania) - 15:39.76
2. Olga Golovkina (Russia) - 15:43.77
3. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan) - 15:51.47
4. Mai Shoji (Japan) - 16:11.90
5. Dudu Karakaya (Turkey) - 16:12.77

Men's 200 m - Final - July 10
1. Anaso Jobodwana (South Africa) - 20.00
2. Rasheed Dwyer (Jamaica) - 20.23
3. Shota Iizuka (Japan) - 20.33

Men's 100 m - Final - July 8 - +0.5 m/s
1. Anaso Jobodwana (South Africa) - 10.10 - PB
2. Ryota Yamagata (Japan) - 10.21
3. Hua Wilfried Serge Koffi (Cote d'Ivoire) - 10.21 - PB

Men's 4x100 m Relay - Final - July 12
1. Ukraine - 38.56
2. Japan - 39.12
3. Poland - 39.29

Men's Pole Vault - July 11
1. Gavin Kendricks (U.S.A.) - 5.60 m
2. Seito Yamamoto (Japan) - 5.60 m
3. Nikita Filippov (Kazakhstan) - 5.50 m

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more