World U20 Championships Day Six Japanese Results

Only two Japanese athletes were in action on the final day of the World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.

In the men's 3000 m steeplechase, Waseda University's Takumi Yoshida ran a PB of 8:50.99 for 5th, well out of medals but outkicking Italy's Giovanni Gatto to finish as the first runner born outside east Africa. "This was a race that showed me where there are still problems, and I will work on improving them," he wrote on Twitter afterwards. "Thank you to everyone who has helped me come this far."

In the women's 1500 m final, Asian Junior 1500 m gold medalist Ririka Hironaka, a senior at Nagasaki Shogyo H.S., finished 11th out of the twelve starters in 4:21.31. With two gold medals, two silvers and two bronzes and eleven top 8 placings at the end of the Championships Japan ranked 8th in the final medal count, its second-best showing ever and a mark of encouragement with just two years to go until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

World U20 Championships Day Six Japanese Results

Tampere, Finland, 7/15/18
complete results

Finals
Women's 1500 m Final
1. Alemaz Samuel (Ethiopia) - 4:09.67
2. Miriam Cherop (Kenya) - 4:10.73
3. Delia Sclabas (Switzerland) - 4:11.98
-----
11. Ririka Hironaka (Japan) - 4:21.31

Men's 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Takele Nigate (Ethiopia) - 8:25.35
2. Leonard Kipkemoi Bett (Kenya) - 8:25.39
3. Getnet Wale (Ethiopia) - 8:26.16
-----
5. Takumi Yoshida (Japan) - 8:50.99 - PB

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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