Skip to main content

Tobe Leaves Hospital After Achilles Surgery, Ejima Breaks Ankle, Kiryu to Take Rest of Season Off


On June 16 men's high jump national record holder Naoto Tobe (JAL) announced on his social media that he had torn his Achilles tendon. Tobe posted on Twitter, "Last week I ruptured my Achilles tendon during an official practice session and as a result missed the National Championships. I'm sorry to have made everyone worried. I've had an operation and left the hospital today."

Tobe had been scheduled to compete on the first day of the National Track and Field Championships on June 9 but withdrew at the last second. At last summer's Tokyo Olympics he became the first Japanese athlete in 49 years to make the high jump final. "I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'll definitely be back," he wrote. "I hope that you'll all still give me your support."

The next day, former men's 100 m NR holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) announced on his Twitter account that he will take the rest of the season off and not enter any races. "I've made the decision to create some time where I can sit down and really think through what I want to do for the rest of my career as an athlete," he wrote. "I'm going to take a little time off until I feel like racing and doing track and field again. I won't be running any more races this season."

On June 10 Kiryu finished 6th in the men's 100 m final at the National Championships, the selection event for Japan's national team for next month's Oregon World Championships.

On June 18, Masaki Ejima (Fujitsu), winner of the men's pole vault at Nationals last weekend, missed the mat on his first attempt at 5.45 m at the Nittai University Time Trials meet and fractured a bone in his ankle. Ejima tweeted video of the accident and pictures of himself on crutches and in a cast afterward.


Translator's note: Tobe is currently ranked 17th of 32 spots in the men's high jump quota for Oregon. Kiryu is ranked 42nd of 48 spots in the 100 m quota. Ejima is ranked 30th of 32 spots in the pole vault quota. All 3 had yet to hit the standard in their events.

source articles:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...
53 comments
Read more