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Kawamoto, Sawano and Yamashita Added to Japanese Olympic Team

by Brett Larner

On July 13 the JAAF announced three additions to its team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  Men's 800 m national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and men's pole vault national record holder Daichi Sawano (Team Fujitsu) were added after clearing their respective Rio standards last weekend.  Despite fouling out at last month's National Championships, Kohei Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) was added in the men's triple jump after clearing the Rio standard earlier this season with a 16.85 m meet record to win the Kanto Region University Championships.

The official announcement noted that the JAAF has not yet received word from the IAAF concerning relays, where the men's 4x400 m is currently ranked 16th excluding the suspended Russia, and that relay teams would be announced at a later date.  The men's 4x100 m, made up of sprinters on the Rio team as individuals, is already qualified after finishing 5th at the IAAF World Relays.  The announcement also noted that further additions to the team are still possible pending notification from the IAAF of invitational slots in events with fewer qualified athletes than allocated for.

The Japanese Rio Olympic team as it currently stands.  Times listed are the athletes' best within the Rio qualifying window.

Women - 14 athletes

Sprints
Chisako Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) - 100 m: 11.23     200 m: 22.88 - NR

Long Distance
Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 5000 m: 15:08.29     10000 m: 31:18.16
Misaki Onishi (Sekisui Kagaku) - 5000 m: 15:16.82
Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) - 5000 m: 15:21.40
Hanami Sekine (Japan Post) - 10000 m: 31:22.92
Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) - 10000 m: 31:35.76
Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama Univ.) - 3000 mSC: 9:44.22

Hurdles
Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex RC) - 400 mH: 56.14

Jumps
Konomi Kai (Volver) - Long Jump: 6.84 m

Throws
Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - Javelin Throw: 63.80 m

Marathon
Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) - 2:22:17
Tomomi Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei) - 2:23:19
Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:24:42

Race Walks
Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) - 20 kmRW - 1:29:40

Men - 33 athletes

 Sprints
Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) - 100 m: 10.01
Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 100 m: 10.06
Asuka Cambridge (Dome) - 100 m: 10.10
Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 200 m: 20.11
Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) - 200 m: 20.13
Kei Takase (Fujitsu) - 200 m: 20.14
Yuzo Kanemaru (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 400 m: 45.22
Julian Walsh (Toyo Univ.) - 400 m: 45.35

Middle Distance
Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 800 m: 1:45.97

Long Distance
Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) - 5000 m: 13:08.40 - NR     10000 m: 27:45.24
Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 5000 m: 13:19.62     10000 m: 27:29.69 - NR
Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 10000 m: 27:42.71

Hurdles
Wataru Yazawa (Descente) - 110 mH: 13.47
Keisuke Nozawa (Mizuno) - 400 mH: 48.67
Yuki Matsushita (Mizuno) - 400 mH: 49.10

Jumps
Daigo Hasegawa (Hitachi ICT) - Triple Jump: 16.88 m
Kohei Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - Triple Jump: 16.85 m
Takashi Eto (AGF) - High Jump: 2.29 m
Seito Yamashita (Toyota) - Pole Vault: 5.77 m
Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) - Pole Vault: 5.75 m
Hiroki Ogita (Mizuno) - Pole Vault: 5.70 m

Throws
Ryohei Arai (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 84.66 m

Decathlon
Akihiko Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 8180
Keisuke Ushiro (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 8160

Marathon
Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:56
Hisanori Kitajima (Yasukawa Denki) - 2:09:16
Suehiro Ishikawa (Honda) - 2:09:25

Race Walks
Eiki Takahashi (Fujitsu) - 20 kmRW: 1:18:03
Isamu Fujisawa (Alsok) - 20 kmRW: 1:18:45
Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) - 20 kmRW: 1:18:53
Hirooki Arai (SDF Academy) - 50 kmRW: 3:40:20
Takayuki Tanii (SDF Academy) - 50 kmRW: 3:42:01
Koichiro Morioka (Fujitsu) - 50 kmRW: 3:44:27
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