Skip to main content

Kitaguchi Throws Javelin Gold - World Youth Championships Day Two Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

Haruka Kitaguchi (Hokkaido Asahikawa Higashi H.S.) unexpectedly became the second Japanese gold medalist of the World Youth Championships, the only athlete in the girls' javelin throw to go over 60 m with a PB of 60.35 m for the win.  Virtually unknown going into the competition, Kitaguchi opened with a PB 56.42 m throw to immediately go into 1st ahead of #3-ranked Laine Donane (Latvia) and #4-ranked Stella Weinberg (Norway).  On her third throw Weinberg delivered a PB of her own, 57.11 m, to move into 1st, but Kitaguchi was quick to respond with a 60.35 m best on her fifth throw to seal gold.  Weinberg stayed in silver, while Donane took bronze with her opening throw of 56.15 m.

Kitaguchi was the only Japanese medalist of the day, but from 400 m through 3000 m Japanese athletes performed well, moving on into the finals almost across the board.  Both Masaki Toyoda (Rakunan H.S.) and Ryusei Fujii (Kokura Kogyo H.S.) won their boys' 400 mH semifinals, Toyoda breaking the world youth leading 50.87 Fujii ran in the opening heats with a 50.72 to win his semi.  In the boys' 400 m semifinals, Minato Sasaki (Morioka Minami H.S.) ran a PB 46.85 to advance on time.  Likewise in the boys' 800 m, where Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) ran a PB of 1:50.31 to move on to the final ranked #3 in the field.

In the girls' 1500 m, Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) ran a PB of 4:20.59 for 4th in the fast second heat to make the final.  By comparison, Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) finished 3rd in the slower first heat in 4:32.13, likewise making the final.  Both Japanese entrants in the boys' 3000 m also made the final, Yuta Kambayashi (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) running 8:25.58 for 3rd in Heat 1 and Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) keeping his head as Richard Yator Kimunyan (Kenya) and Tefera Mosisa (Ethiopia) dueled pointlessly up front, qualifying for the final in 3rd in 8:26.59 over 20 seconds behind but at least heading into the final on fresh legs.

9th World Youth Championships Day Two Japanese Results
Cali, Colombia, 7/16/15
click here for complete results

Boys' 3000 m Heat 1
1. Davis Kiplagat (Kenya) - 8:19.27 - Q
2. Abayneh Degu (Ethiopia) - 8:20.08 - Q
3. Yuta Kambayashi (Japan) - 8:25.58 - Q
4. Kisan Narshi Tadvi (India) - 8:25.98 - Q
5. Alexander Yee (Great Britain) - 8:28.18 - Q

Boys' 3000 m Heat 2
1. Richard Yator Kimunyan (Kenya) - 8:04.75 - Q
2. Tefera Mosisa (Ethiopia) - 8:07.53 - Q - PB
3. Hyuga Endo (Japan) - 8:26.59 - Q
4. Abderrazak Abed (Algeria) - 8:29.07 - Q - PB
5. Dorin Andrei Rusu (Romania) - 8:29.36 - Q

Girls' 1500 m Heat 1
1. Adanech Anbesa (Ethiopia) - 4:28.70 - Q
2. Janeth Chepngetich (Kenya) - 4:32.03 - Q
3. Wakana Kabasawa (Japan) - 4:32.13 - Q
4. Sabrina Sinha (Great Britain) - 4:32.14 - Q
5. Semra Karaslan (Turkey) - 4:32.15

Girls' 1500 m Heat 2
1. Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa (Bahrain) - 4:18.61 - Q
2. Bedatu Hirpa (Ethiopia) - 4:19.34 - Q - PB
3. Joyline Cherotich (Kenya) - 4:19.96 - Q - PB
4. Chika Mukai (Japan) - 4:20.59 - Q - PB
5. Olivia Burdon (New Zealand) - 4:21.36 - q - PB

Boys' 800 m Semifinal 1
1. Kipyegon Bett (Kenya) - 1:47.11 - Q
2. Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Japan) - 1:50.31 - Q - PB
3. Lee Clarke (Jamaica) - 1:50.70 - q - PB

Boys' 800 m Semifinal 2
1. Willy Kiplimo Tarbei (Kenya) - 1:48.68 - Q
2. Luis Fernando Pires (Brazil) - 1:50.67 - Q - PB
3. Achraf El Maliky (Morocco) - 1:52.23
-----
7. Takuto Hanamura (Japan) - 1:57.69

Girls' 800 m Heat 2
1. Marta Zenoni (Italy) - 2:09.67 - Q
2. Honorine Iribagiza (Rwanda) - 2:10.04 - Q - PB
3. Elise Vanderelst (Belgium) - 2:10.20 - Q
-----
5. Shoko Fukuda (Japan) - 2:10.79

Boys' 400 m Semifinal 1
1. Christopher Taylor (Jamaica) - 45.30 - Q - WYL
2. Josephus Lyles (U.S.A.) - 45.93 - Q
3. Karabo Sibanda (Botswana) - 46.53 - q
4. Minato Sasaki (Japan) - 46.85 - q - PB

Boys' 400 m Semifinal 2
1. Keshun Reed (U.S.A.) - 46.77 - Q
2. Louis Stenmark (Australia) - 46.78 - Q - PB
3. Chandan Bauri (India) - 47.41
4. Ryota Kitahara (Japan) - 47.85

Girls' 400 m Semifinal 1
1. Kyra Constantine (Canada) - 52.88 - Q - PB
2. Catherine Reid (Great Britain) - 53.20 - Q - PB
3. Symone Mason (U.S.A.) - 53.48 - q
-----
7. Rin Aoki (Japan) - 55.69

Girls' 100 m Heat 6 -0.9 m/s
1. Nicola de Bruyn (South Africa) - 11.74 - Q
2. Brianne Bethel (Bahamas) - 11.88 - Q
3. Helene Ronningen (Norway) - 11.96 - q
-----
6. Miku Yamada (Japan) - 12.32

Boys' 400 mH Semifinal 1
1. Masaki Toyoda (Japan) - 50.72 - Q - WYL
2. Emmanuel Kipyegon Langat (Kenya) - 51.13 - Q - PB
3. Rivaldo Leacock (Barbados) - 51.20 - q - PB

Boys' 400 mH Semifinal 2
1. Ryusei Fujii (Japan) - 51.21 - Q
2. Jauavney James (Jamaica) - 51.96 - Q - PB
3. Hrvoje Cukman (Croatia) - 52.33

Girls' 400 mH Semifinal 1
1. Sydney McLaughlin (U.S.A.) - 56.79 - Q
2. Anne Sofie Kirkegaard (Denmark) - 58.56 - Q
3. Lee Ahrens (Germany) - 58.90 - Q - PB
-----
6. Mizuki Murakami (Japan) - 59.35

Girls' 400 mH Semifinal 2
1. Brandee Johnson (U.S.A.) - 58.51 - Q
2. Ilaria Verderio (Italy) - 58.56 - Q
3. Junelle Bromfield (Jamaica) - 58.67 - Q
-----
8. Chisa Kitazawa (Japan) - 1:11.08

Girls' 100 mH Semifinal 2 -0.6 m/s
1. Ilionis Guillaume (France) - 13.23 - Q - PB
2. Alicia Barrett (Great Britain) - 13.40 - Q - PB
3. Klaudia Siciarz (Poland) - 13.50 - q - PB
-----
5. Yumi Tanaka (Japan) - 13.64 - PB

Boys' High Jump Qualification Group A
1. Dmytro Nikitin (Ukraine) - 2.08 m - q
1. Jaron Brooks (U.S.A.) - 2.08 m - q
1. Remo Cagliesi (Germany) - 2.08 m - q
-----
12. Go Miura (Japan) - 2.00 m

Boys' Long Jump Final
1. Maykel Demetrio Masso (Cuba) - 8.05 m +0.5 m/s - MR
2. Darcy Roper (Australia) - 8.01 m +0.5 m/s - PB
3. Eberson Silva (Brazil) - 7.76 m +0.1 m/s - PB
-----
12. Masashi Miyauchi (Japan) - 6.85 m -0.3 m/s

Girls' Javelin Throw Final
1. Haruka Kitaguchi (Japan) - 60.35 m - PB
2. Stella Weinberg (Norway) - 57.11 m - PB
3. Laine Donane (Latvia) - 56.15 m

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
That's amazing! Hard to believe a Japanese girl's throwing farther than the Scandinavians (who probably have more javelin coaches than Japan has javelins).
Brett Larner said…
She threw like a champ, too, coming up with the big throw when she needed it. Respect.

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...