Kentaro Sato Runs 2nd-Fastest JPN 400 m Ever for Gold - Asian Athletics Championships Day 2 Highlights

Japan dominated day 2 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships Thursday, winning 3 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals across 10 events.

The biggest news was in the men's 400 m final, where Kentaro Sato ran an all-time JPN #2 45.00 for the win and Fuga Sato an all-time JPN #5 45.13 for silver. Both were well back from Asian record holder Yousef Ahmed Masrahi of Saudi Arabia coming into the home straight, but with stunning kicks they pulled up into the medals, in Fuga's case going all the way from 5th to 2nd. Masrahi was in the bronze position in a season best 45.19.

Another 1-2 finish for Japan came in the women's 10000 m. Haruka Kokai was part of a breakaway trio with Kenya-born Kazakhstani Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui and Mongolian NR holder Munkhzaya Bayartsogt, while Momoka Kawaguchi held back in the second group warier of the heat and humidity. On track to break her own NR, Munkhzaya did all the work up front, burning off Kipkirui who ultimately dropped out.

At 7000 m Kokai went to the front, holding the pace almost perfectly off Munkhzaya's 16:29.25 first half to take gold in 32:59.36. Kawaguchi pushed hard over the last 3000 m and overtook Munkzhaya on the last lap, taking silver in 33:18.72. Munkhzaya took bronze in 33:24.79, 7 seconds under the NR that she had set way back in 2014.

In the decathlon, Yuma Maruyama performed well over the second day of competition to move up from 3rd to gold. Teammate Shun Taue also had a good back half, moving up to 4th overall.

The women's hammer throw had Japan going 2-3, the American-born Joy McArthur taking silver at 66.56 m and Raika Murakami silver at 64.17 m. All 6 of winner Zhao Jin's throws went further than McArthur's best, her 2nd attempt of 69.39 m ultimately being her best effort but also throwing over 69 m on her 3rd and 5th attempt.

Likewise in the women's 100 m final, Asuka Terada and Masumi Aoki went 2-3 as they fought through the tail end of a passing squall. Jyothi Yarraji of India passed both for gold in 13.09 -0.1 m/s, Terada next in 13.13 and Aoki in bronze in 13.26.

In 3rd on his last attempt, triple jumper Hikaru Ikehata closed with a 16.73 m +0.6 m/s jump to steal silver from South Korea's Jangwoo Kim. Indian A.A. Narangolintevida scored gold with a 4th jump of 16.92 m +0.7 m/s.

Graduate student Yusuke Takahashi scored a rare Japanese men's 1500 m medal, breaking away for the win over the last lap but overtaken by India's Ajay Kumar Saroj coming into the home straight and ending up in the silver position. NR holder Kazuki Kawamura couldn't cope with the field's last kick and finished out of the medals.

In the men's hammer throw Shota Fukuda was a surprise bronze over Japanese favorite Ryota Kashimura, throwing 71.80 m on his 2nd attempt to Kashimura's 71.24 m 4th-round effort. China's Wang Qi was solidly in gold at 72.13 m, with Uzbekistan's Sukhrob Khodjaev just edging Fukuda for silver at 71.83 m.

The women's high jump was one of the few events without a Japanese medalist, Nagisa Takahashi tying for 4th after clearing 1.83 m. Kazakhstan's Kristina Ovchinnikova won gold after making 1.86 m on her first attempt.

The women's 400 m also saw Japan come up empty-handed, Haruna Kuboyama 4th in 53.80 and Nanako Matsumoto 5th in 53.89. Sri Lanka's Nadeesha Ramanayaka was well ahead with a PB 52.61 for gold.

The biggest news in qualifying rounds was in the men's 100 m. Toyo University's Hiroki Yanagita ran a PB 10.10 -0.5 m/s to lead the field of qualifiers by 0.08, and he did it looking around after halfway and coasting in over the last 15 to 20 m. Another run like that and he's going to be joining an exclusive club in Japanese men's sprinting. National champ Ryuichiro Sakai won his heat in 10.18 +0.0 m/s, tying Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Akbar Mohammed for the 2nd-best time in the field.

Complete results are available here. The Asian Athletics Championships continue through Sunday.

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...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

japan running news

Search This Blog