A Step Backward From Eugene - Final Japanese Tally From World U20 Championships

by Brett Larner

Japan's final score at the Bydgoszcz World U20 Championships was relatively modest, one silver medal, one bronze and fourteen other top eight placings, down significantly from the 2014 Eugene World Junior Championships where Japanese athletes earned one gold, three silver and two bronze medals along with fifteen other top eight finishes. Both medals this year came with new Asian Junior Records attached, Takumu Furuya running 13.31 for bronze in the men's 110 m hurdles and the men's 4x100 m relay coming just shy of the U.S.A. in 39.01 for silver. Five of the other top eight placers set new PBs, but by and large they were at the bottom end of their finals; apart from the medalists only two of the fourteen top eight placers made the top five in their events, Tatsuhiro Yamamoto with a 5th place in the men's 400 m hurdles and a 4th-place finish by the men's 4x400 m relay.

There were several close calls with a number of unlucky 9th-place finishes, but by and large results were so far off those from just two years ago that questions have to be asked. But at the same time, the JAAF has set a goal for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics of just one medal and five top eight placings. With the leadership having such low expectations it's hard to be critical of the World U20 team. And with the bar that low, if the Rio team performs even close to as well as the Japanese team in Bydgoszcz it would be viewed as a rousing success.

2016 World U20 Championships Top Japanese Results
Bydgoszcz, Poland, July 19-24, 2016
click here for complete results

Men's 200 m
8. Jun Yamashita - 20.94

Men's 400 m
7. Kazuki Matsukiyo - 46.69 - PB
8. Naoki Kitadani - 47.15

Women's 3000 m
8. Nozomi Tanaka - 9:01.16 - PB

Women's 5000 m
8. Rika Kaseda - 15:39.66 - PB

Men's 110 m Hurdles
3. Takumu Furuya - 13.31 +0.2 m/s - Asian Jr. Record

Men's 400 m Hurdles
5. Tatsuhiro Yamamoto - 50.99
7. Yoshiro Watanabe - 51.09

Women's 10000 m Race Walk
8. Yukiho Mizoguchi - 46:19.49 - PB

Men's 4x100 m Relay
2. Japan - 39.01 - Asian Jr. Record

Men's 4x400 m Relay
4. Japan - 3:07.02

Men's Pole Vault
6. Masaki Ejima - 5.35 m

Men's High Jump
6. Yuji Hiramatsu - 2.21 m

Women's Javelin Throw
6. Mikako Yamashita - 54.89 m
8. Haruka Kitaguchi - 52.15 m

Men's Discus Throw
8. Shinichi Yukinaga - 58.50 - PB

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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M.I.A.

Sorry to have been silent for a while. JRN associate editor Mika Tokairin was in Taiwan for Ironman Penghu, where she won her age group to qualify for Kona for the first time. Right after that we moved for the first time in 14 years, and immediately after that I headed to the U.S. to help Keita Sato get settled in his new training base in Flagstaff. We'll be resuming normal operations shortly with a big roundup of results over the last 2 weeks. Brett Larner

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