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

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...