Following up on its silver medal at the Rio Olympics, the Japanese men's 4x100 m relay squad delivered the first Japanese medal of the London World Championships as it took bronze behind hosts Great Britain and U.S.A. Swapping in alternate Kenji Fujimitsu for ailing anchor Aska Cambridge in the final, the team featured only two starting members of the Rio lineup. Lead runner Shuhei Tada, a student at Kwansei Gakuin University who burst onto the scene in May, again proved himself the best new development in Japanese men's sprinting with a fast start. Rio members Shota Iizuka and Yoshihide Kiryu did their bits on second and third to keep Japan even with Jamaica in 3rd before Fujimitsu delivered the goods.
With bronze at the Beijing Olympics and silver in Rio last year it was Japan's first-ever World Championships men's 4x100 m relay medal. At age Fujimitsu may not make it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but with Cambridge, 200 m finalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown and Rio team member Ryota Yamagata still in reserve Japan's chances for Tokyo continue to look good.
The men's 4x400 m team couldn't match the 4x100 m performance, finishing last in their qualifying heat. In the men's decathlon Japan's Akihiko Nakamura and Keisuke Ushiro took the bottom two spots, finishing 19th and 20th among the 20 athletes to complete every discipline. National champion Nakamura punctuated his performance by frontrunning the final event, the 1500 m, to win it by 4 seconds.
London World Championships Day Nine Japanese Results
London, England, 8/12/17click here for complete results
Men's 4x100 m Relay Heat 1
1. U.S.A. - 37.70 - Q
2. Great Britain - 37.76 - Q
3. Japan - 38.21 - Q
4. Turkey - 38.44 - q
Men's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Great Britain - 37.47
2. U.S.A. - 37.52
3. Japan - 38.04
4. China - 38.34
5. France - 38.48
6. Canada - 38.59
7. Turkey - 38.73
DNF - Jamaica
Men's 4x400 m Relay Heat 2
1. U.S.A. - 2:59.23 - Q
2. Trinidad and Tobago - 2:59.35 - Q
3. Belgium - 2:59.47 - Q
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8. Japan - 3:07.29
Men's Decathlon
1. Kevin Mayer (France) - 8768
2. Rico Freimuth (Germany) - 8564
3. Kai Kazmirek (Germany) - 8488
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19. Akihiko Nakamura (Japan) - 7646
20. Keisuke Ushiro (Japan) - 7498
© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photo by Ekiden Mania, © 2017 Kazuyuki Sugimatsu, all rights reserved
Comments
Thanks for the report.