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. 

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved