19-Year-Old Ryuji Miura Breaks 3000m Steeplechase NR to Kick Off Tokyo Olympics Athletics Day One

Juntendo University 2nd-year Ryuji Miura is the most exciting thing to have appeared on the Japanese scene in the last year, seeming to come from our of nowhere to just miss the 3000 m steeplechase NR last summer at age 18, breaking Suguru Osako's U20 half marathon national record last fall, and then rewriting the 3000 m SC NR twice since turning 19 in February this year. In his first real race against international competition Miura kicked off track and field action at the Tokyo Olympics by taking 6 seconds off his own 3000 mSC NR to finish 2nd in the opening heat in 8:09.92. Miura's time was fast enough to have medaled at all but two past Olympics and auto-qualifying him for what looks to be a very fast final, making him the first Japanese man to make an Olympic steeple final since 1972

Miura was calm and relaxed throughout the race, staying in the top 5 the whole way and moving to the front when he needed to. Over the last lap he challenged 2019 Doha World Championships silver medalist Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia for the lead, but while Girma got away in the end Miura looked like he still had more in him for the final, easing up well before the finish line. His time was the 2nd-fastest among the 15 qualifiers for the final, but whatever he manages to do in Monday's final, Miura's opening heat was one of the best Japanese Olympic performances ever. "I want to show everyone that I've got the strength to run an even better time," he said post-race. "No matter how tough a race it is I'll be up there and make it a race to the end."

This year marked the first time since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that three Japanese men qualified in the 3000 mSC. The other two Japanese men, Ryoma Aoki and Kosei Yamaguchi, didn't advance, Aoki finishing 9th in the second heat and Yamaguchi 12th in the third.

In the men's high jump, NR holder Naoto Tobe advanced to the final by clearing 2.28 m. Takashi Eto failed to qualify, clearing only 2.21 m. Hiromu Yamauchi was the only one of the three Japanese men in the 400 m hurdles heats to move on, finishing 3rd in the second heat to place 16th overall among the semifinal qualifiers. Takatoshi Abe and Kazuki Kurokawa were each 6th in their heat and did not advance.

In the evening session, 20-year-old Ririka Hironaka led the first heat of the women's 5000 m past 4000 m at a fraction over 3:00/km. When the big move came she couldn't keep up and dropped to 9th. But with a PB of 14:55.87 Hironaka made it through to the final on time, just the third Japanese woman in history to make an Olympic 5000 m final. The other two Japanese women, Kaede Hagitani and Nozomi Tanaka, both ran PBs too but failed to move on.

In the first medal even, the men's 10000 m, all-time Japanese top two Akira Aizawa and Tatsuhiko Ito didn't have the same kind of spark as either Mura or Hironaka, hanging back in the second half of the pack despite a slow early pace and falling off when it got quicker. Aizawa lasted longer, finishing 17th in 28:18.37 and Ito 22nd of 23 finishers in 29:01.31. Ethiopian Selemon Barega took gold in 27:43.22, downing Ugandan duo Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo who took silver and bronze in 27:43.63 and 27:43.88.

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

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