Skip to main content

Final Day Gold Medal Rush Helps Japan Dominate Medal Table at U20 Asian Championships

 

The final day of the Yecheon U20 Asian Championships was held on June 7. Leading the day's action, Junpei Maseda (Waseda Univ.) won the men's 1500 m in 3:50.15. Maseda, who ran the First Stage at this year's Hakone Ekiden for Waseda, led aggressively from the start. Iraq's M. Al-Khazali made a late challenge, but Maseda held him off to take gold.

In the women's 100 mH final, a day after taking silver in the heptathlon Miki Hayashi (Chukyo H.S.) pulled away in the middle phase of the race to win gold in 13.64 -0.4 m/s. Jennifer Saita (Josai H.S.) was the only athlete in the women's 200 m final to break 24 seconds, taking gold in 23.99 -0.1 m/s. Men's 3000 m gold medalist Sonata Nagashima (Asahi Kasei) pulled off the double in the 5000 m, winning again in 14:23.91.


In other events, Sota Haraguchi (Juntendo Univ.) cleared a PB 2.18 m for silver in the men's high jump. Haruya Suzaki (Keio Univ.) was 5th at 2.06 m. In the women's 1500 m, 5000 m gold medalist Nanaka Yonezawa (Meijo Univ.) took bronze in 4:25.75, with Airi Tashima (Japan Post) 4th in 4:28.07 after leading most of the race.

All told, the Japanese team at the U20 Asian Championships took home 23 medals, 14 of them gold. Both its overall total and gold medal haul topped the lists among participating countries. The next U20 Asian Championships are scheduled to be held in 2024 in the United Arab Emirates.

source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...