The JAAF has announced that the Wavelight electronic pacing system will be used in the May 3 10000 m National Championships at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. The Wavelight uses 400 LED lights spaced at 1 m intervals around the track that can be illuminated to show different target paces, making it easier for athletes to go for particular times. The system has also been popular with audiences for adding some color and making it easier to follow the race's progression.
The Wavelight system is used abroad in Diamond League meets and other races targeting high-level long-distance times. In Japan, it was used last year in the Hokuren Distance Challenge series and at December's 10000 m National Championships. In that race Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) set a new national record of 27:09.80, with the next three finishers Tomoki Ota (Toyota), Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei) and Ren Tazawa (Toyota) setting the all-time #2 through #4 Japanese marks.
At the 10000 m National Championships in May, the winner will be named to the Paris Olympics team if they have cleared the Olympic qualifying standards of 27:00.00 for men or 30:40.00 for women. As of this writing, only 2023 women's national champion Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) has ever run that fast. Olympic qualification in other events will happen at June's National Championships in Niigata.
Translator's note: Hironaka ran under 30:40.00 before the start of the Olympic qualifying window and does not currently hold the standard. At last December's 10000 m National Championships, 2nd through 4th-placers Yuka Takashima (Shiseido), Haruka Kokai (Daiichi Seimei) and Rino Goshima (Shiseido) ran the 6th, 7th and 8th-fastest times ever by Japanese women.
The timing of the two 10000 m National Championships, both inside the Paris Olympics qualifying window with 2023's in December and 2024's in May, lets Japanese athlete double dip on world rankings points to give them a better chance of making it into the Olympics via rankings without having hit the qualifying standard.
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