After missing the final in Oregon last year 3000 m steeplechase national record holder Ryuji Miura built on his 7th-place 2021 Olympic debut with a 6th-place finish at the Budapest World Championships. Miura started slow and moved up throughout the race, getting as high as 5th when ahead of him a fall on the first obstacle after the bell brought bronze into tantalizingly close range. But he couldn't quite close it, and just steps before the finish he was run down by New Zealand's George Beamish, dropping to 6th in 8:13.70 with Beamish 5th in 8:13.46. Ryoma Aoki, who beat Miura to the punch as the first Japanese man to qualify for a World Championships 3000 mSC final in 20 years, was 14th in 8:24.77. Olympic and defending World champion Soufiane El Bakkali was unstoppable again, winning in 8:03.53.
Flawless in the men's high jump qualifying round, Ryoichi Akamatsu struggled to get into his rhythm in the final. After making 2.20 m and 2.25 on his first attempt, Akamatsu ran into a wall at 2.29 m. Missing all three attempts, he was 8th overall. Co-Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy solidified his credentials with another gold, clearing 2.36 m.
Prior to these World Championships only one Japanese man had ever gone under 45 seconds in the 400 m, way back in 1991. In the heats Kentaro Sato and Fuga Sato both joined that short list, Kentaro with a 44.77 NR and Fuga in 44.97. In the semifinals both did it again, running 44.99 for 5th in SF1 and Fuga another PB of 44.88 for 4th in SF2. Joseph Nakajima was keen in to get in on the action too, running an all-time Japanese #5 PB of 45.04 for 3rd in SF3. All three came up short of making the final, but they did show that they are going to be legit threats in the 4x400 m relay.
All three Japanese women in the women's 100 m hurdles heats have run under 12.90, so in theory at least the 12.92 cutoff for SF time qualifiers should have been in reach. But none of them was able to perform up to potential. The least experienced of the three, Yumi Tanaka had the fastest run at 13.12 +0.4 m/s for 7th in Heat 5. Former NR holder Asuka Terada ran 13.15 +0.1 m/s for 6th in Heat 2, with Asian Championships bronze medalist Masumi Aoki running only 13.26 +0.1 m/s for 8th in Heat 1.
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