Doha World Championships Day Eight Japanese Results

Following up on Yusuke Suzuki's win in the 50 km, Japan scored its second race walk gold with another win in the 20 km by Toshikazu Yamanishi. Where Suzuki led start-to-finish, Yamanishi waited 5 km before making a bold move to open a 17-second lead over Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom. From there he was never really under threat, Karlstrom and others shaving a few seconds off his lead but dropping back again over the final lap. In the end Yamanishi won by 15 seconds in 1:26:34, with Russian Vasiliy Mizinov overtaking Karlstrom for silver. Koki Ikeda made the top 8 with a 6th-place finish in 1:29:02, with Eiki Takahashi 10th in 1:30:04.

The race walks may well end up being Japan's best shot at a medal next year in Tokyo, but there's no question that along with the men's marathon the event the home crowd will be cheering for the hardest is the men's 4x100 m relay. Running a new lineup of Yuki Koike, Kirara Shiraishi, Yoshihide Kiryu and Abdul Hakim Sani Brown in the heats, Japan made it through the extremely high-level Heat 2, taking 2nd in 37.78. Heat winner South Africa set an African area record 37.68 with 3rd-place China and 5th-placer the Netherlands likewise setting new national records of 37.79 and 37.91. Canada was 6th in 37.91 but didn't make it through to the final. In the first heat only the top two placers, winner Great Britain in a world-leading 37.56 and runner-up Brazil in a South American record 37.90, went under 38, the fast times in the second heat shutting out Jamaica and others from the first heat. Based on its time in the heats Japan is ranked 3rd going into the final, but its chances of a medal are anything but assured.

Doha World Athletics Championships

Day Eight Japanese Results
Doha, Qatar, 4 Oct. 2019
complete results

Finals

Men's 20 km Race Walk
1. Toshikazu Yamanishi (Japan) - 1:26:34
2; Vasiliy Mizinov (ANA) - 1:26:49
3. Perseus Karlstrom (Sweden) - 1:27:30
-----
6. Koki Ikeda (Japan) - 1:29:02
10. Eiki Takahashi (Japan) - 1:30:03

Qualifying Rounds

Men's 4x100 m Relay Heat Two
1. South Africa - 37.65 - Q, AR
2. Japan - 37.78 - Q
3. China - 37.79 - Q, NR
4. France - 37.88 - q
5. Netherlands - 37.91 - q, NR
6. Canada - 37.91
7. Germany - 38.24
DQ - Nigeria

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

Three Japanese Men Running 128th Boston Marathon

Back in Japan's golden years Boston was a big draw for its top talent in the marathon, but for a long time it was off the list of first-choice marathons as the preoccupation shifted to times. That started changing again in 2017 when 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako made his debut there with a 2:10:28 for 3rd, following in the footsteps of other Waseda University alum who ran well in Boston including two-time winner Toshihiko Seko and the late Tomoyuki Taniguchi . Osako was 3rd at October's Paris Olympic marathon trials, putting him in position to be on the Paris team unless someone runs 2:05:50 or better at February's Osaka Marathon or March's Tokyo Marathon. Having run 2:06:13 in Tokyo last year but beaten by two Japanese men who both went under 2:06, there wasn't really any upside to Osako doing Tokyo this time. Osaka seemed like the logical choice, but like he has for most of his life Osako is following his own motivations and opting to return to the 128th Boston

japan running news

Search This Blog