Morota Breaks Pole Vault NR - Asian Games Athletics Day 4 Highlights

Women's pole vault national record holder Misaki Morota kicked off the evening session on the fourth day of athletics competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games with a new NR and a silver medal. Morota cleared every height from 3.80 m to 4.40 m on her first attempt, then did it again at 4.48 m, 7 cm over her old record. China's Ling Li and Chung Niu only jumped once each, both clearing 4.30 m on their first attempts, leaving all three women to go for 4.53 m. Li made it on her first attempt, but both Morota and Niu failed, leaving Li in gold, Morota in silver and Niu in the bronze position. Li went on from there to make it over 4.63 m, breaking her own Games record by 3 cm.

In the men's 200 m final, Koki Ueyama took the final in 20.60 (-0.2), beating Saudi Abdullah Akbar Mohammed by 0.03 to win Japan's first athletics gold medal in Hangzhou. Chun-Han Yang of Taiwan edged out veteran Femi Ogunode of Qatar for bronze, 20.74 to 20.75. A few minutes later Shunya Takayama delivered a second gold, winning the men's 110 mH in 13.41 (-0.4). Kuwait's Yaqoub Alyouha clocked the same time and was jointly awarded the gold, with China's Zhuoyi Xu taking bronze in 13.50. Japan's Shuhei Ishikawa was 5th in 13.63.

Women's long jump NR holder Sumire Hata came up short of the medals. China's Shiqi Xiong, India's Ancy Sojan Edappilly and Hong Kong's Nga Yan Yue all jumped PBs to take the medal spots, Xiong in 6.73 m (-0.0), Edappilly in 6.63 m (+0.3) and Yue in 6.50 m (+0.1). But Hata, who jumped her 6.97 m NR at July's Bangkok Asian Championships but only 6.41 m at the Budapest World Championships in August, was stuck in the 6.40s, going 6.42 m (+0.3) on her 3rd attempt, 6.48 m (+0.4) on her 4th, and 6.48 (+0.1) on her 5th, leaving her just 2 cm outside medal territory.

In the men's decathlon, Yuma Maruyama and Shun Taue stood in 4th and 5th after the first day of competition with 3880 and 3663 points. Both ran well in the 100 m, Maruyama with the fastest time in the 100 m at 10.96 (+1.0) and Taue 3rd at 11.08 (+1.0), but had the two lowest clearances in the high jump, Maruyama making 1.85 m and Taue only 1.82 m. India's Tejaswin Shankar led with 4260 points, China's Qihao Sun 2nd with 4010 and Thailand's Suttisak Singkhon 3rd with 4004.

In qualification rounds:

Both Tomohiro Shinno and Ryoichi Akamatsu cleared 2.15 m to make the men's high jump final, Shinno winning Group B and Akamatsu 2nd in Group A. WR holder Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar lead Group A with a 2.19 m clearance on his only jump.
Asian Games record holders China led the men's 4x100 m heats with a 38.62 season best in Heat 1, South Korea just behind with a 38.75 SB for 2nd. Asian record holders Japan led Heat 2 in 38.99.
NR holder Sho Kawamoto was eliminated in the men's 800 m, finishing 5th in Heat 3 in 1:52.93. India's Mohammed Pulikkalakath was the fastest qualifier, winning Heat 2 in 1:46.79.
Both Kazuki Kurokawa and Yusaku Kodama made the men's 400 m hurdles final, Kurokawa winning Heat 2 in 49.80 and Kodama getting through on time with a 49.99 for 3rd in Heat 1.
Ami Yamamoto also made it through in the women's 400 mH, running 57.55 for 5th in Heat 1.

Complete results here. The Hangzhou Asian Games continue through Thursday.

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

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