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Ushiro Allowed to Compete at World Championships



At one point "misselected" by the JAAF to represent Japan at the World Championships beginning Sept. 27 in Doha, Qatar, Asian decathlon champion Keisuke Ushiro (33, Kokushikan Club) has been allowed to compete. The JAAF made the announcement on Sept. 20 that Ushiro was one of five athletes being added to Japan's roster. On his Twitter account Ushiro wrote, "I'm sorry to have made so many people worry about this, but I'm happy to say that today I got word that I'll be able to go to the World Championships. I'll do everything I can to be ready so I can get as close as I can to realizing my dream of medaling. Thank you all for your support."

As the 2019 Asian Championships gold medalist and 2019 national champion, the JAAF announced Ushiro as a member of the Doha team in June. But on Sept. 17 the IAAF informed the JAAF that Ushiro would not be allowed to compete due to not having cleared the qualification standard. The situation forced JAAF executive Kazunori Asaba to hold a press conference to apologize for the JAAF's mishandling. Following this, the situation reversed again and Ushiro was offered the chance to participate due to the absence of other qualified athletes in the decathlon.

The JAAF's published guidelines for national team selection for the Doha World Championships specify that gold medalists at this year's Asian Championships would be considered to have met the World Championships qualification standards as area champion. Based on this, Ushiro was named to the Doha team when he won June's National Championships following his Asian gold medal. However, the IAAF's entry criteria specify that in some events, including the decathlon, the participation of area champions who had not met the standards would be based on the discretion of the event's technical delegate. This clause was missing from the JAAF's guidelines.

The other athletes added to the team are Ryo Sato (men's high jump), Ryohei Arai (men's javelin throw), Reimi Yoshimura (women's 3000 mSC) and Nanaka Kori (women's discus throw).

source article:
https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/201909200001195.html
translated and edited by Brett Larner

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