Three Meet Records at U20 National Championships

Held in parallel with this weekend's senior National Championships, the U20 National Track and Field Championships happened Thursday through Sunday at Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai. The timing meant most of the top U20 talent was in the senior championships, but even so there were three new meet records across disciplines.

On Friday Raika Murakami (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) bettered the 9-year-old MR in the U20 women's hammer throw by almost a meter and a half, winning with a 59.43 m opening throw even though she fouled every attempt after that.

In Sunday's U20 men's long jump Nozomi Watanabe (Tsukuba Univ.) set a new MR, jumping 7.85 m (+1.6) on his fourth attempt. 2nd-placer Kosuke Tsuneizumi (Chuo Univ.) closed with a 7.66 (+2.1) jump but came short of overtaking Watanabe.

Also Sunday, the top 6 all broke the old U20 men's 3000 m MR of 8:16.20 despite running at the peak of mid-afternoon heat and sunlight. Shintaro Kudo (Ichinoseki Gakuin H.S.) took the national title in 8:08.05, Ren Sato (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) 2nd in 8:10.47 and Kotaro Suzuki (Koku Gakuin Kugayama H.S.) 3rd in 8:11.63, PBs by all. High schoolers taking the top 3 spots was no small feat given that over half the field was made up of university runners.

In other distance results, Hinata Maeda (APU) won a tight U20 men's 1500 m that saw the top 4 all within 0.13 sec. Maeda was the only runner under 4:00, winning in 3:59.97. Hiroto Yoshioka (Saku Chosei H.S.) won the U20 men's 5000 m in a solid 13:54.98, runner-up Rui Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) getting under 14 minutes for the first time in 13:59.34. Ryotaro Onuma (Josai Univ.) outkicked Runa Yamaguchi (Nihon Univ.) in the home straight to win the U20 men's 3000 mSC 8:48.83 to 8:51.20.

Misaki Shitamori (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) ran a PB 4:21.43 for the win in the U20 women's 1500 m by nearly a second over Riho Yoshida (Toyokawa H.S.). Akari Matsumoto (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) had the same margin of victory in the U20 women's 3000 m, winning in 9:20.25. Corporate leaguer Ramu Shibata (Wacoal) took the U20 women's 5000 m in 16:09.17, beating Marin Machi (Suzuki) by just 0.48 sec. Karin Kameoka (Takushoku Univ.) won the U20 women's 3000 mSC in 10:29.15, everyone in the top 3 running a PB to make the podium.

Complete results from the U20 National Track and Field Championships are available here.

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

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Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

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