Skip to main content

Japan Dominates IAU 100 km World Championships

The Japanese men and women dominated the 2018 IAU 100 km World Championships in Sveti Martin na Muri, Crotia on Saturday, winning both team gold medals and the individual men's gold and silver and women's bronze medals.

Finishing in the inverse order they did at June's historic Lake Saroma 100 km, the men went 1-2-4-6, Lake Saroma 4th placer and defending world champion Hideaki Yamauchi winning the race outright in 6:28:05 and Lake Saroma 3rd-placer Takehiro Gyoba taking silver in 6:32:51. Two-time Comrades Marathon champ Bongmusa Mthembu of South Africa, 2nd to Yamauchi last time out, was the only non-Japanese athlete to make the men's podium, beating Lake Saroma runner-up Koji Hayasaka by just over two minutes to take bronze in 6:33:47 to Hayasaka's 6:36:05. All three scoring Japanese men broke 4:00/km to give the men's an incredible score of 19:37:01, nearly an hour faster than the silver-earning South Africa team. Germany had the distinction of taking the team bronze medal without putting a single man in the top ten overall.

The only Japanese man not to win a medal or score for the team was world record-setting Lake Saroma winner Nao Kazami. In what has to be a first, Kazami was involved in a three-way sprint finish for 5th, getting the better of 3-time world champion Giorgio Calcaterra of Italy by 5 seconds but clocking the same time as American Geoff Burns. Both Kazami and Burns were timed at 6:42:30, but Burns took the 5th spot as Kazami fell to the ground in 6th. The American men were shut out of the medals, 3 and 1/2 minutes behind Germany in 4th.


Like the men the Japanese women put all four team members into the top six to win the team gold medal. Home soil champ Nikolina Sustic and German Nele Alder-Baerens were in a different league, running 7:20:34 and 7:22:41 to take the individual gold and silver medals. Lake Saroma winner Mai Fujisawa was far back in 7:39:07 for bronze, spearheading the tight team finish that saw Japan's next two, Mikiko Ota and Aiko Kanematsu, finish within 6 minutes of her in 4th and 5th. Yuko Kusunose was another 4 and 1/2 minutes back in 6th. As in the men's race the Japanese women's winning team time of 23:03:50 was nearly an hour faster than runner-up South Africa, with the Croatian women doing their country proud with team bronze.


2018 IAU 100 km World Championships

Sveti Martin na Muri, Croatia, 9/8/18
complete results
Men
1. Hideaki Yamauchi (Japan) - 6:28:05
2. Takehiro Gyoba (Japan) - 6:32:51
3. Bongmusa Mthembu (South Africa) - 6:33:47
4. Koji Hayasaka (Japan) - 6:36:05
5. Geoff Burns (U.S.A.) - 6:42:30
6. Nao Kazami (Japan) - 6:42:30
7. Giorgio Calcaterra (Italy) - 6:42:35
8. Anthony Clark (Great Britain) - 6:43:22
9. Fritjof Fagerlund (Sweden) - 6:44:53
10. Elow Olsson (Sweden) - 6:46:03

Team Results
1. Japan - 19:37:01
2. South Africa - 20:33:49
3. Germany - 21:02:12
4. U.S.A. - 21:05:41
5. Spain - 21:06:49

Women
1. Nikolina Sustic (Croatia) - 7:20:34
2. Nele Alder-Baerens (Germany) - 7:22:41
3. Mai Fujisawa (Japan) - 7:39:07
4. Mikiko Ota (Japan) - 7:39:45
5. Aiko Kanematsu (Japan) - 7:44:58
6. Yuko Kusunose (Japan) - 7:49:33
7. Salome Cooper (South Africa) - 7:51:13
8. Noora Honkala (Finland) - 7:52:04
9. Kajsa Berg (Sweden) - 7:52:39
10. Leonie Ton (Netherlands) - 7:54:44

Team Results
1. Japan - 23:03:50
2. South Africa - 23:56:44
3. Croatia - 24:13:57

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more