Masateru Yugami (Toyota) and Taio Kanai (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.) wrapped up the last day of the 2018 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in style, delivering national records in the men's discus throw and men's 110 m hurdles.
Coming into Nationals with a best of only 59.30 m, Yugami threw PBs on five-straight throws, breaking the national record set last year by rival Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) on his last three. By the time the dust settled he held a new record of 62.16 m, an improvement of almost a minute and a half over Tsutsumi's record. "I'm happy to get this," he said afterward, "but I know other athletes are coming up too and I hope that we can take it further together."
With a 0.7 m/s tailwind, the #4-ranked Kanai won the 110 mH final in 13.36, a PB by 0.17 and bettering both the year-old meet record and 2004-era national record. 3000 mSC winner Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) came up short of the national record, but his 8:29.14 moved up to all-time Japanese #8 and #3 among Japanese-born university men.
The women's 5000 m mostly involved into a duel between two of the more interesting young runners on the scene right now, Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) and Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera). But despite a 15:31.65 PB from Tanaka, who graduated from high school in March, both were run down by last year's national champion Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post), who took the top spot in 15:30.93. Yamanouchi, whose career path as an athlete has been one of the more unusual in recent years, took 3rd in 15:32.79, a possible qualifier for August's Jakarta Asian Games due to a faster time she ran earlier this season.
The men's 5000 m went out slower than the women's race, seeming to live up to the Nationals slogan "I don't want anything but #1" with a 3:10 first 1000 m. Yuki Muta (Hitachi Butsuryu) was the first to say enough, jetting out to open a lead. The rest of the pack reluctantly closed up on him after a lap or two, seemingly inspiring Muta to DNF. After a DNF of his own in Friday's 10000 m 2:08 marathoner Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) took over, only to fade to 22nd of 23 finishers. The last lap came down to a sprint battle between middle distance specialists Hazuma Hattori (Toenec) and Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Kaijo), Hattori getting the win in 14:21.52 thanks to a 2:34 last 1000 m. Chalk it up as one of the stranger races in Nationals history.
The day's other main event, the 200 m, saw women's national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Seiko) take down the woman who broke her streak last year, Kana Ichikawa (Mizuno) for the win in 23.65 (+1.1 m/s), crying post-race at being back on top after finishing 2nd in the 100 m yesterday. 3rd in the men's 200 m last year, Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) scored the win this time in 20.34 (+0.8 m/s). New talents Yuki Koike (ANA) and Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) both cleared 20.50 for the first time to go 2-3, beating 100 m national record holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) who was far off his best at only 20.69 for 4th. London World Championships 4x100 m relay team member Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) finished last in 23.65 after struggling to make the final.
102nd Japanese National Track and Field Championships
Day Three HighlightsYamaguchi, 6/24/18
complete results
Women
Women's 200 m Final (+1.1 m/s)
1. Chisato Fukushima (Seiko) - 23.65
2. Kana Ichikawa (Mizuno) - 23.83
3. Miku Yamada (Nittai Univ.) - 23.92
Women's 800 m Final
1. Yume Kitamura (Edion) - 2:02.54
2. Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2:03.45
3. Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 2:04.01
Women's 5000 m Final
1. Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) - 15:30.93
2. Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) - 15:31.65 - PB
3. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 15:32.79
4. Riko Matsuzaki (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:33.41
5. Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) - 15:36.33
6. Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 15:37.17
7. Yuka Hori (Panasonic) - 15:41.06
8. Kaori Morita (Panasonic) - 15:44.42
9. Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 15:45.46
10. Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) - 15:47.83
Women's 100 mH Final (+1.1 m/s)
1. Masumi Aoki (Junanaju Ginko) - 13.17 - PB
2. Hitomi Shimura (Toho Ginko) - 13.21
3. Ayako Kimura (Edion) - 13.21
Women's 400 mH Final
1. Eri Utsunomiya (Hasegawa Taiiku Shisetsu) - 57.37
2. Sayaka Aoki (Toho Ginko) - 57.64
3. Kana Koyama (Waseda Univ.) - 57.94
Women's Discus Throw Final
1. Maki Saito (Shizuoka Kogyo H.S.) - 51.42 m
2. Minori Tsujikawa (Tsukuba Univ.) - 50.62 m
3. Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 50.09 m
Men
Men's 200 m Final (+0.8 m/s)
1. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.34
2. Yuki Koike (ANA) - 20.42 - PB
3. Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.46 - PB
Men's 5000 m Final
1. Hazumi Hattori (Toenec) - 14:21.52
2. Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) - 14:24.30
3. Kei Fumimoto (Kanebo) - 14:24.86
4. Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 14:25.08
5. Hiroki Abe (Meiji Univ.) - 14:25.18
6. Chiharu Nakagawa (Toenec) - 14:25.58
7. Toshiyuki Yanagi (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 14:26.58
8. Shinichiro Nakamura (Kyudenko) - 14:27.16
9. Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) - 14:29.16
10. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 14:34.21
Men's 110 mH Final (+0.7 m/s)
1. Taio Kanai (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.) - 13.36 - NR
2. Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) - 13.45
3. Shinya Tanaka (K-plus) - 13.64
Men's 3000 mSC Final
1. Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) - 8:29.14 - all-time JPN #8
2. Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) - 8:34.40 - PB
3. Yuma Higashi (Kyudenko) - 8:38.24
4. Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) - 8:45.23
5. Shuto Mikami (Tokai Univ.) - 8:45.86
Men's High Jump Final
1. Takashi Eto (Ajinomoto AGF) - 2.25 m
2. Naoto Tobe (Tsukuba TP) - 2.20 m
3. Kazuhiro Ota (Nittai Shisetsu) - 2.20 m
Men's Triple Jump Final
1. Kohei Yamashita (ANA) - 16.59 m (+1.0 m/s)
2. Kazuyoshi Ishikawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 16.20 m (+0.6 m/s)
3. Ryoma Yamamoto (JAL) - 16.15 m (-0.3 m/s)
Men's Shot Put Final
1. Satoshi Hatase (Alsok) - 18.36 m
2. Daichi Nakamura (Mizuno) - 18.33 m
3. Masahira Sato (Kokushikan Club) - 18.00 m
Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 62.16 m - NR
2. Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) - 56.76 m
3. Shigeyuki Maisawa (Orico) - 56.33 m
© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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