Skip to main content

Doha World Championships Day Nine Japanese Results

Tweaking its lineup to replace the ailing Yuki Koike with fast starter Shuhei Tada, the Japanese men's 4x100 m relay team pulled off a bronze medal on the second-to-last day of the Doha World Championships. In a fast race that saw the top four teams set national and area records, Japan ran an Asian record 37.43 for 3rd behind winner U.S.A. in 37.10 and 2nd-place Great Britain in 37.36, a shot of confidence ahead of next summer's Tokyo Olympics where the 4x100 will be one of the country's best chances of medaling. Along with its pair of men's race walk gold medals the team's bronze brought Japan's medal count to three for the Championships.

After running an 11-second PB to move up to all-time Japanese #3 in the women's 5000 m heats, Nozomi Tanaka improved again with a 15:00.01 in the final to advance to all-time #2. With the race going out well below Japanese national record pace Tanaka was just hanging on the entire time, part of the first group to detach from the back of the pack but staying steady throughout. In the last 100 m she lost out in a three-way sprint against New Zealand's Camille Buscomb and Canada's Andrea Seccafien, both of whom went under 15 minutes for the first time with Tanaka just missing. Post-race she told JRN, "I could see that I still have a lot of work to do to be able to compete at this level, but the gap between me and the rest of Japan is only getting bigger and there's not much point racing there any more. I need to focus on racing internationally."

With the 2020 Olympic marathon trials having just happened Japan effectively sent a C-team to the men's marathon in Doha. In unexpectedly favorable conditions that saw a five-way race over the last 2 km in which Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa took gold in 2:10:40, as expected Hiroki Yamagishi was the leading Japanese man the entire way, ultimately finishing 25th in 2:16:43. Yuki Kawauchi ran up to current ability with a 2:17:59 for 29th in what is bound to be his final national team appearance, with sub-2:10 man Kohei Futaoka a disappointing 2:19:23 for 37th after having trained in part under Kawauchi's guidance. The team's alternate Daiji Kawai ran 2:15:56 in more difficult conditions and on a harder course in the Olympic trials three weeks ago. You can't help but wonder how he might have done here if the JAAF's selection priorities had been different.

In the women's 4x100 m hurdles heats, national record holder Asuka Terada and Ayako Kimura both fell short of qualifying for the semis with 5th-place finishes in their heats, Terada in 13.20 and Kimura in 13.19. The men's 4x400 m relay team also took 5th in its heat to come up short of qualifying. Ryohei Arai was in range of making the men's javelin throw final but dropped from 12th to 15th in the final round of throws to miss out. With none of them advancing it means that no Japanese athletes will be in competition on the final day of the Doha World Championships.

Doha World Athletics Championships

Day Nine Japanese Results
Doha, Qatar, 5 Oct. 2019
complete results

Finals

Women's 5000 m Final
1. Hellen Obiri (Kenya) - 14:26.72 - MR
2. Margaret Kipkemboi (Kenya) - 14:27.49 - PB
3. Konstanze Klosterhalfen (Germany) - 14:28.43
4. Tsehay Gemechu (Ethiopia) - 14:29.60 - PB
5. Lilian Rengeruk (Kenya) - 14:36.05 - PB
-----
14. Nozomi Tanaka (Japan) - 15:00.01 - PB

Men's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. U.S.A. - 37.10 - AR
2. Great Britain - 37.36 - AR
3. Japan - 37.43 - AR
4. Brazil - 37.72 - AR
5. South Africa - 37.73
6. China - 38.07
DQ - Netherlands
DNF - France

Men's Marathon
1. Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia) - 2:10:40
2. Mosinet Geremew (Ethiopia) - 2:10:44
3. Amos Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:10:51
4. Callum Hawkins (Great Britain) - 2:10:57
5. Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) - 2:11:09
6. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 2:11:29
7. El Hassan El Abbassi (Bahrain) - 2:11:44
8. Hamza Sahli (Morocco) - 2:11:49
9. Tadesse Abraham (Switerland) - 2:11:58
10. Daniel Mateo (Spain) - 2:12:15
-----
25. Hiroki Yamagishi (Japan) - 2:16:43
29. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:17:59
37. Kohei Futaoka (Japan) - 2:19:23

Qualifying Rounds

Women's 100 m Hurdles Heat 1 +0.3 m/s
1. Nia Ali (U.S.A.) - 12.59 - Q
2. Megan Tapper (Jamaica) - 12.78 - Q
3. Cindy Ofili (Great Britain) - 12.97 - Q
4. Genesis Romero (Venezuela) - 13.14 - Q
5. Asuka Terada (Japan) - 13.20
6. Stanislava Skvarkova (Slovakia) - 13.44
7. Adrine Monagi (Papua New Guinea) - 14.00
DNF - Solene Ndama (France)

Women's 100 m Hurdles Heat 2 +0.2 m/s
1. Luminosa Bogliolo (Italy) - 12.80 - Q
2. Yanique Thompson (Jamaica) - 12.86 - Q
3. Anne Zagre (Belgium) - 12.91 - Q
4. Brianna Beahan (Australia) - 13.11 - Q
5. Ayako Kimura (Japan) - 13.19
6. Fanny Quenot (France) - 13.51
DQ - Brianna McNeal (U.S.A.)

Men's 4x400 m Relay Heat 2
1. U.S.A. - 2:59.89 - Q
2. Colombia - 3:01.06 - Q, NR
3. Italy - 3:01.60 - Q
4. Great Britain - 3:01.96 - q
5. Japan - 3:02.05
6. Spain - 3:04.27
7. Australia - 3:05.49
DQ - Botswana

Men's Javelin Throw Qualification Group B
1. Magnus Kirt (Estonia) - 88.36 m - Q
2. Kim Amb (Sweden) - 84.85 m - Q
3. Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) - 84.44 - Q
-----
8. Ryohei Arai (Japan) - 81.71 m

photo © 2019 Ekiden News, all rights reserved
text © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Metts said…
I have all the respect and admiration and what he has done, especially during the amateur period. It was an incredible time, no doubt. But I'm beginning to wonder what has happened to YK. He ran a 2:09 last spring but he appears not be the same runner as before. Is it age, too many marathons and races, just not the right atmosphere, or is it something else. I just feel the same feeling is not there, or whatever you want to call it. He certainly isn't as old as KB of Ethiopia, so there is still hope for the future. Of course hot weather marathons, such as Daegu and Russia weren't his forte too. So lets hope, like KB, he can find a way to make it happen again, before he becomes a coach who runs,if he isn't that already.
FRANCK PICHON said…
Congratulations Nozomi Tanaka !
great performance!
It's so difficult whith so much cheaters

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...