Shiroyama's 8.40 m Jump Leads Four National Records at Athlete Night Games in Fukui

Held in the stadium where Japan saw its first-ever sub-10 clocking for 100 m, Saturday's new Athlete Night Games in Fukui meet produced four national records highlighted by an incredible men's long jump competition. Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) opened with a jump of 8.32 m +1.6 m/s that shattered the national record dating way back in 1992 by 7 cm. Hibika Tsuha (Toyo Univ.) followed him with a jump of 8.21 m + 2.0 m/s that put him into the all-time Japanese top three, then bettered that with an 8.23 m +0.6 m/s.



Out of nowhere, Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) knocked them both back in the record books on his third jump with a new national record of 8.40 m +1.5 m/s, the #2 mark in the world so far this year and only his second time clearing 8 m with a legal wind. Japanese fans were quick to compare the trio's results to this season's Diamond League meets.

DL Shanghai
🥇8m24🥈8m16🥉8m14
DL Lausanne
🥇8m32🥈8m19🥉8m13
DL London
🥇8m37🥈8m32🥉8m11
DL Fukui
🥇8m40🥈8m32🥉8m23 https://t.co/fYIcoJ0rej

— 熊田大樹 ＠陸上 (@athletekuma) August 17, 2019

The national records continued in the hurdles. In the men's 110 m hurdles, Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) took 0.5 off his own record to win in 13.25 +1.1 m/s, Japan's first-ever legal sub-13.30 clocking. In the women's 100 m hurdles Asuka Terada (Pasona), a former collegiate hurdler who retired to become a pro rugby player and mother, then came back earlier this year after six years away from the sport to target next year's Olympics, dropped a 13.00 +1.4 m/s to tie the 2000-era national record.



Hopes were high that another national record would come in the men's 800 m. Former national record holder Masato Yokota (Nike Tokyo TC) paced 17-year-old wunderkind Allon Tatsunami Clay (Soyo H.S.), national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and others through a 51.30 first lap. Clay couldn't sustain that pace but managed to hang on for the win in 1:46.63, his second time breaking 1:47.



Kirara Shiraishi (Cerespo) led the men's 200 m in a PB of 20.27 +0.8 m/s, his first time ever clearing the Doha World Championships standard. Runner-up Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) and 3rd-placer Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) also went under the Doha standard for the first time this season, a breath of relief for the veteran Iizuka and a PB for Yamashita.



Back in the stadium where he made history, Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) won the men's 100 m in 10.05 +0.9 m/s, with regular 4x100 m relay teammate Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) 2nd in 10.20. Midori Mikase (Eniwa Kita H.S.) won the relatively low-key women's 100 m in 11.69 +0.6 m/s.



A day later at a pole vault meet in Kisarazu, Chiba, national champion Masaki Ejima (Nihon Univ.) and veteran national record holder Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) both succeeded in clearing the 5.71 m Doha World Championships standard. Ejima moved up to all-time Japanese #3, with Shingo Sawa (Kiraboshi Ginko) cleared 5.61 m to move to all-time #7. As the national champ Ejima guaranteed himself a spot on the Doha team, with Sawano a likely addition come the final team announcement in mid-September.

澤野さん、雅紀お疲れ様です！！
二人揃って5m71の世界選手権標準記録突破！😊
最高の試合応援にきて正解でした😁
いい試合をありがとうございました！！！！ pic.twitter.com/3vdObJ5EZF

— 丸山優真 Yuma Maruyama (@yuma_603) August 18, 2019

1st Athlete Night Games in Fukui

9.98 Stadium, Fukui, 9/17/19
complete results

Men

Men's 100 m +0.9 m/s
1. Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 10.05
2. Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.20
3. Kirara Shiraishi (Cerespo) - 10.29
4. Kotaro Iwasaki (Yutic) - 10.31
5. Ippei Takeda (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 10.37
6. Wataru Inuzuka (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.44
7. Takuya Nagata (Fujitsu) - 10.45
8. Taishi Endo (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 10.61

Men's 200 m +0.8 m/s
1. Kirara Shiraishi (Cerespo) - 20.27
2. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.39
3. Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.40
4. Shota Hara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 20.72
5. Takumi Iizuka (Chuo Univ.) - 20.98
6. Kei Takase (Fujitsu) - 21.12

Men's 800 m
1. Allon Tatsunami Clay (Soyo H.S.) - 1:46.63
2. Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:48.23
3. Takahiro Hayashi (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:48.83
4. Junya Matsumoto (Hosei Univ.) - 1:53.23
5. Kenta Umetani (Sunbelx) - 1:55.97

Men's 110 m Hurdles +1.1 m/s
1. Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) - 13.25 - NR
2 Taio Kanai (Mizuno) - 13.53
3. Shunsuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.53
4. Wataru Yazawa (Descente TC) - 13.55
5. Anthony Kuriki (Niigata Albirex RC) - 13.60
6. Huhei Ishikawa (Fujitsu) - 13.65
7. Akihiro Ogata (Asahi) - 13.91
8. Daisuke Inui (ECC) - 14.33

Men's Long Jump
1. Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) - 8.40 m +1.5 m/s - NR
2. Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) - 8.32 m +1.6 m/s - (NR)
3. Hibiki Tsuha (Toyo Univ.) - 8.23 m +0.6 m/s - all-time JPN #4
4. Daiki Oda (Yamada Denki0 - 8.03 m +1.6 m/s
5. Kota Minemura (Fujitsu) - 7.94 m +2.0 m/s
6. Hiroshi Tebira (Okuwa) - 7.90 m +1.0 m/s
7. Natsuki Yamakawa (Tobu Top Tours) - 7.88 m +1.9 m/s
8. Shinichiro Shimono (Kyudenko) - 7.78 m +1.9 m/s
9. Tenju Togawa (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 7.71 m +2.3 m/s
10. Taishi Endo (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 7.52 m +1.6 m/s

Women

Women's 100 m +0.6 m/s
1. Midori Mikase (Eniwa Kita H.S.) - 11.69
2. Maki Wada (Mizuno) - 11.75
3. Yukina Shimada (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) - 11.93
4. Anna Kato (Tsuruga H.S.) - 11.96
5. Hinako Kameyama (Akita Univ.) - 12.24
6. Hitomi Hisagai (Yutic) - 12.27
7. Erina Yokoyama (Takefu Ichi J.H.S.) - 12.59

Women's 100 m Hurdles +1.4 m/s
1. Asuka Terada (Pasona) - 13.00 - NR tie
2. Mako Fukube (Nihon Kensetsu Kogyo) - 13.16
3. Yumi Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 13.18
4. Hitomi Shimura (Toho Ginko) - 13.42
5. Yuri Okubo (Yutic) - 13.55
6. Ten Sasaki (Tsukuba Univ.) - 13.57
7. Mao Takebe (Tsuegen RC) - 13.67
8. Umi Kawashima (Chuo Univ.) - 14.25

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved