by Brett Larner
Japan picked up 3 gold medals, 12 silver and 7 bronze at the 2014 Asian Games, far short of the Federation's target of ten golds but for many of the silvers agonizing close to having crossed over to the top. Chisato Fukushima by 0.01 seconds in the women's 100 m, Kohei Matsumura 1 second away in the men's marathon, Suguru Osako 0.74 out of gold in the men's 10000 m after leading until the final straight, Takayuki Kishimoto out by 0.10 in the men's 400 mH and pole vaulter Daichi Sawano clearing the same height, 5.55 m, as gold medalist Changrui Xue (China). If things had gone just slightly differently the gold haul could have been very close to target.
The three gold medals Japan did win all came from the men on the team. Takayuki Tanii's was the biggest, a meet record 3:40:19 in the 50 km racewalk, along with favorite Keisuke Ushiro's 8088 win in the decathlon and the 4x400 m relay team's 3:01.88 gold less than 0.20 off Japan's own meet record. Despite missing out on a medal in the men's 200 m, Shota Iizuka deserves MVP status on the team for his work on the relay teams. At 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 2 he ran second on the 4x100 m, helping it win silver. 35 minutes later he was back at 8:20 p.m. to run third on the gold medal-winning 4x400 m team, a distance outside his usual range of specialty. All told it was a relatively solid representation by the Japanese team, but with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the horizon the Federation and JOC were no doubt hoping for more. They'll have to wait until next summer's Beijing World Championships.
2014 Asian Games Athletics - Japanese Medalists
Incheon, South Korea, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2014
click here for complete results
Women's Marathon
gold: Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:25:37
silver: Ryoko Kizaki (Japan) - 2:25:50
bronze: Lishan Dula Gemechu (Bahrain) - 2:33:13
Women's 10000 m
gold: Alia Mohammed Saeed (U.A.E.) - 31:51.86
silver: Changqin Ding (China) - 31:53.09
bronze: Ayumi Hagiwara (Japan) - 31:55.67
Women's 200 m 0.0
gold: Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) - 23.02
silver: Yongli Wei (China) - 23.27
bronze: Chisato Fukushima (Japan) - 23.45
Women's 100 m -0.5
gold: Yongli Wei (China) - 11.48
silver: Chisato Fukushima (Japan) - 11.49
bronze: Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) - 11.50
Women's 400 mH
gold: Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya (Bahrain) - 55.77
silver: Satomi Kubokura (Japan) - 56.21
bronze: Xia Xiao (China) - 56.59
Women's 100 mH 0.0
gold: Shuijiao Wu (China) - 12.72
silver: Yawei Sun (China) - 13.05
bronze: Ayako Kimura (Japan) - 13.25
Women's 4x400 m Relay
gold: India (Priyanka, Tintu, Mandeep, Machettira) - 3:28.68 - MR
silver: Japan (Aoyama, Matsumoto, Ichikawa, Chiba) - 3:30.80
bronze: China (Li, Wang, Chen, Cheng) - 3:32.02
Women's 4x100 m Relay
gold: China (Tao, Kong, Lin, Wei) - 42.83 - MR
silver: Kazkhstan (Ivanchukova, Zyabkina, Tulapina, Safronova) - 43.90
bronze: Japan (Fujimori, Ichikawa, Aoki, Fukushima) - 44.05
Women's Pole Vault
gold: Ling Li (China) - 4.35 m - MR
silver: Tomomi Abiko (Japan) - 4.25 m
bronze: Eunji Lim (South Korea) - 4.15 m
Men's Marathon
gold: Ali Hassan Mahboob (Bahrain) - 2:12:38
silver: Kohei Matsumura (Japan) - 2:12:39
bronze: Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:12:42
Men's 10000 m
gold: El Hassan El Abbassi (Bahrain) - 28:11.20
silver: Suguru Osako (Japan) - 28:11.94
bronze: Isaac Korir (Bahrain) - 28:45.65
Men's 100 m +0.4
gold: Femi Seun Ogunode (Qatar) - 9.93 - AR, MR
silver: Bingtian Su (China) - 10.10
bronze: Kei Takase (Japan) - 10.15
Men's 400 mH
gold: Ali Khamis Abbas (Bahrain) - 49.71
silver: Takayuki Kishimoto (Japan) - 49.81
bronze: Wen Cheng (China) - 50.29
Men's 4x400 m Relay
gold: Japan (Kanemaru, Fujimitsu, Iizuka, Kato) - 3:01.88
silver: South Korea (Park, Park, Seong, Yeo) - 3:04.03
bronze: Saudi Arabia (Al Subiani, Al Khayri, Al Bishi, Masrahi) - 3:04.03
Men's 4x100 m Relay
gold: China (Chen, Xie, Su, Zhang) - 37.99 - AR, MR
silver: Japan (Yamagata, Iizuka, Takahira, Takase) - 38.49
bronze: Hong Kong (Tang, So, Ng, Tsui) - 38.98
Men's 50 km Racewalk
gold: Takayuki Tanii (Japan) - 3:40:19 - MR
silver: Chilsung Park (South Korea) - 3:49:15
bronze: Zhengdong Wang (China) - 3:50:52
Men's 20 km Racewalk
gold: Zhen Wang (China) - 1:19:45 - MR
silver: Yusuke Suzuki (Japan) - 1:20:44
bronze: Hyunsum Kim (South Korea) - 1:21:37
Men's Pole Vault
gold: Changrui Xue (China) - 5.55 m
silver: Daichi Sawano (Japan) - 5.55 m
bronze: Minsum Jin (South Korea) - 5.45 m
Men's Javelin Throw
gold: Qinggang Zhao (China) - 89.15 m - AR, MR
silver: Ryohei Arai (Japan) - 84.42 m
bronze: Ivan Zaytsev (Uzbekistan) - 83.68 m
Men's Decathlon
gold: Keisuke Ushiro (Japan) - 8088
silver: Leonid Andreev (Uzbekistan) - 7879
bronze: Akihiko Nakamura (Japan) - 7828
(c) 2014 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Japan picked up 3 gold medals, 12 silver and 7 bronze at the 2014 Asian Games, far short of the Federation's target of ten golds but for many of the silvers agonizing close to having crossed over to the top. Chisato Fukushima by 0.01 seconds in the women's 100 m, Kohei Matsumura 1 second away in the men's marathon, Suguru Osako 0.74 out of gold in the men's 10000 m after leading until the final straight, Takayuki Kishimoto out by 0.10 in the men's 400 mH and pole vaulter Daichi Sawano clearing the same height, 5.55 m, as gold medalist Changrui Xue (China). If things had gone just slightly differently the gold haul could have been very close to target.
The three gold medals Japan did win all came from the men on the team. Takayuki Tanii's was the biggest, a meet record 3:40:19 in the 50 km racewalk, along with favorite Keisuke Ushiro's 8088 win in the decathlon and the 4x400 m relay team's 3:01.88 gold less than 0.20 off Japan's own meet record. Despite missing out on a medal in the men's 200 m, Shota Iizuka deserves MVP status on the team for his work on the relay teams. At 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 2 he ran second on the 4x100 m, helping it win silver. 35 minutes later he was back at 8:20 p.m. to run third on the gold medal-winning 4x400 m team, a distance outside his usual range of specialty. All told it was a relatively solid representation by the Japanese team, but with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the horizon the Federation and JOC were no doubt hoping for more. They'll have to wait until next summer's Beijing World Championships.
2014 Asian Games Athletics - Japanese Medalists
Incheon, South Korea, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2014
click here for complete results
Women's Marathon
gold: Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:25:37
silver: Ryoko Kizaki (Japan) - 2:25:50
bronze: Lishan Dula Gemechu (Bahrain) - 2:33:13
Women's 10000 m
gold: Alia Mohammed Saeed (U.A.E.) - 31:51.86
silver: Changqin Ding (China) - 31:53.09
bronze: Ayumi Hagiwara (Japan) - 31:55.67
Women's 200 m 0.0
gold: Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) - 23.02
silver: Yongli Wei (China) - 23.27
bronze: Chisato Fukushima (Japan) - 23.45
Women's 100 m -0.5
gold: Yongli Wei (China) - 11.48
silver: Chisato Fukushima (Japan) - 11.49
bronze: Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) - 11.50
Women's 400 mH
gold: Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya (Bahrain) - 55.77
silver: Satomi Kubokura (Japan) - 56.21
bronze: Xia Xiao (China) - 56.59
Women's 100 mH 0.0
gold: Shuijiao Wu (China) - 12.72
silver: Yawei Sun (China) - 13.05
bronze: Ayako Kimura (Japan) - 13.25
Women's 4x400 m Relay
gold: India (Priyanka, Tintu, Mandeep, Machettira) - 3:28.68 - MR
silver: Japan (Aoyama, Matsumoto, Ichikawa, Chiba) - 3:30.80
bronze: China (Li, Wang, Chen, Cheng) - 3:32.02
Women's 4x100 m Relay
gold: China (Tao, Kong, Lin, Wei) - 42.83 - MR
silver: Kazkhstan (Ivanchukova, Zyabkina, Tulapina, Safronova) - 43.90
bronze: Japan (Fujimori, Ichikawa, Aoki, Fukushima) - 44.05
Women's Pole Vault
gold: Ling Li (China) - 4.35 m - MR
silver: Tomomi Abiko (Japan) - 4.25 m
bronze: Eunji Lim (South Korea) - 4.15 m
Men's Marathon
gold: Ali Hassan Mahboob (Bahrain) - 2:12:38
silver: Kohei Matsumura (Japan) - 2:12:39
bronze: Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:12:42
Men's 10000 m
gold: El Hassan El Abbassi (Bahrain) - 28:11.20
silver: Suguru Osako (Japan) - 28:11.94
bronze: Isaac Korir (Bahrain) - 28:45.65
Men's 100 m +0.4
gold: Femi Seun Ogunode (Qatar) - 9.93 - AR, MR
silver: Bingtian Su (China) - 10.10
bronze: Kei Takase (Japan) - 10.15
Men's 400 mH
gold: Ali Khamis Abbas (Bahrain) - 49.71
silver: Takayuki Kishimoto (Japan) - 49.81
bronze: Wen Cheng (China) - 50.29
Men's 4x400 m Relay
gold: Japan (Kanemaru, Fujimitsu, Iizuka, Kato) - 3:01.88
silver: South Korea (Park, Park, Seong, Yeo) - 3:04.03
bronze: Saudi Arabia (Al Subiani, Al Khayri, Al Bishi, Masrahi) - 3:04.03
Men's 4x100 m Relay
gold: China (Chen, Xie, Su, Zhang) - 37.99 - AR, MR
silver: Japan (Yamagata, Iizuka, Takahira, Takase) - 38.49
bronze: Hong Kong (Tang, So, Ng, Tsui) - 38.98
Men's 50 km Racewalk
gold: Takayuki Tanii (Japan) - 3:40:19 - MR
silver: Chilsung Park (South Korea) - 3:49:15
bronze: Zhengdong Wang (China) - 3:50:52
Men's 20 km Racewalk
gold: Zhen Wang (China) - 1:19:45 - MR
silver: Yusuke Suzuki (Japan) - 1:20:44
bronze: Hyunsum Kim (South Korea) - 1:21:37
Men's Pole Vault
gold: Changrui Xue (China) - 5.55 m
silver: Daichi Sawano (Japan) - 5.55 m
bronze: Minsum Jin (South Korea) - 5.45 m
Men's Javelin Throw
gold: Qinggang Zhao (China) - 89.15 m - AR, MR
silver: Ryohei Arai (Japan) - 84.42 m
bronze: Ivan Zaytsev (Uzbekistan) - 83.68 m
Men's Decathlon
gold: Keisuke Ushiro (Japan) - 8088
silver: Leonid Andreev (Uzbekistan) - 7879
bronze: Akihiko Nakamura (Japan) - 7828
(c) 2014 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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