Skip to main content

Freak Accident Stops Steeplechase at National High School Championships

There were a lot of good performances on the 4th day of the Sapporo High School Championships, but a freak accident in the first heat of the boys' 3000 mSC got most of the attention. The leading runner at the first obstacle fell right as he started to jump, colliding with the barrier at waist height and falling forward over it. The ~100 kg barrier rocked forward just as multiple people behind the leader put their feet on it as they jumped, tipping it further. Athletes in the next row started to crash into the runners ahead or hit the obstacle, giving it enough momentum to fall over. It probably wasn't the first time this has ever happened, but given the construction of the obstacle and the combination of force and angle of impact needed to knock the it over it must be pretty close to never. Nobody was caught underneath, but when officials stopped the heat and re-ran it the runner who first hit the barrier, Shuya Kanamori (Sakudaira Sogo H.S.), and one other were both absent.
The boys' 5000 m lived up to hopes from the high level of performances in the qualifying heats, with the top 10 all going under 14 minutes. Favorite Samuel Kibathi (Kurashiki H.S.) got the win in 13:41.44, but it wasn't the kind of blowout people expected. After winning Heat 1 in only 14:25.23, Duncan Maina (Senshudai Kumamoto H.S.) was right there with Kibathi at the line in 13:41.72. 3rd-placer Eliud Kabiga (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran 13:47.74, with top Japanese finisher Sota Orita (Suma Gakuen H.S.) following up his sub-14 top Japanese placing in the heats with a 13:55.69 for 5th.

After dominating the heats and semifinals, Ko Ochiai (Shiga Gakuen H.S.) did it again in the boys' 800 m final. Ochiai ran a meet record 1:47.92 for the win, the 3rd-fastest ever by a Japanese high schooler and all-time #9 time by a Japanese junior. And it wasn't just him. Hironori Tachizako (Kagoshima Josai H.S.) ran a PB 1:48.50 for 2nd, moving up to all-time 7th on the Japanese high school lists. Koki Terada (Koku Gakuin Kugayama H.S.) was 3rd in 1:49.44. Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) had a close win in the girls' 800 m over Yuri Nishida (Kusatsu Higashi H.S.), 2:06.41 to 2:06.59.

Complete results are available here. The National High School Championships wrap up Sunday.

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Asian Games Preview - Entries, Timetable and Live Results

Back in Japan for the first time in 32 years and representing 60% of the world's population, with more athletes competing across all sports than at the Olympics, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are already underway. Athletics competition starts tomorrow and runs through Tuesday the 29th. Some of the biggest names on the entry list include: Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SRI) - men's javelin throw - 2026 World Ultimate Championships gold and 2026 Diamond League champion Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) - women's javelin throw - 2026 World Ultimate Championships and 2024 Paris Olympics gold Birhanu Balew (BRN) - men's 5000 m/10000 m - 2026 Diamond League 5000 m champion Sanghyeok Woo (KOR) - men's high jump - 2025 Tokyo World Championships silver Hayato Katsuki (JPN) - men's marathon race walk - 2025 Tokyo World Championships bronze Abderrahman Samba (QAT) - men's 400 mH - 2025 Tokyo World Championships bronze Jiale Zhang (CHN) - women's hammer throw - 2025 Tokyo W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Asian Games Competition Schedule

The daily athletics event schedule for September's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games . Wednesday, Sept. 23 7:30 - Women's / Men's Half Marathon Race Walk Final Thursday, Sept. 24 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon 100 mH 10:20 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Heats 10:30 - Men's Triple Jump Heats 10:40 - Women's Heptathlon High Jump 19:05 - Men's High Jump Heats 19:13 - Women's Heptathlon Shot Put 19:33 - Women's 100 m Heats 19:44 - Women's Triple Jump Final 20:08 - Men's 100 m Heats 20:55 - Men's Discus Throw Final 21:00 - Women's Heptathlon 200 m 21:25 - Women's 10000 m Final 22:15 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Final Friday, Sept. 25 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon Long Jump 10:30 - Men's 400 m Heats 11:25 - Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw 19:05 - Women's Shot Put Final 19:13 - Women's 100 m Semifinal 19:33 - Men's 100 m Semifinal 20:03 - Women's Pole Vault Final 20:11 - Women's Heptathlon 800 m 20:32 - Men's 10000 m Final 20:40 - M...
Post a Comment
Read more

Updates to Japan's Home Team at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

This week the JAAF announced changes to the lineup for its home team at next week's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games . The main change announced was the withdrawal of Ririka Hironaka from the women's 10000 m, leaving only Nozomi Tanaka to do it as part of a 1500-5000-10000 triple. In theory it seems like it would be pretty easy and swap in an alternate, but apparently not. No announcement of withdrawals for Tomonori Yamaguchi , who missed June's National Championships 5000 m with injury, or high jumper Ryoichi Akamatsu , who hasn't competed since early last October and made the Asian Games team based his 8th-place finish over a year ago at the Tokyo World Championships. Complete entry lists, schedule and results are available here . The latest Japanese team lineup, with current Asian ranking limited to 2 athletes per country, and best performance in 2025-26: Men 100 m 6 - Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 (+1.4) 9 - Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.06 (+1.4) 200 m 1 - Tow...
1 comment
Read more