The first Japanese man to make an Olympic 110 m hurdles final, NR co-holder Rachid Muratake turned in the best performance by a Japanese athlete so far at the Paris Olympics when he took 5th in the final. Only 8th in the field on semifinal time, Muratake outran American Freddie Crittenden and Jamaicans Hansle Parchment and Orlando Bennett, crossing the line in a photo finish with Spain's Enrique Llopis.
Llopis was 4th in 13.20 (-0.1) behind American medalists Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts, 12.99 and 13.09, and Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell, 13.09, with Muratake clocking 13.21 for 5th. That put him ahead of Koki Ikeda's 7th-place finish in the men's 20 km race walk as the top Japanese placer at this Olympics, and with few people remaining who have a realistic chance of bettering that it's almost a given that Muratake will go home as one of Japan's top 3 this time around.
One of the contenders to do better than 5th, the Japanese men's 4x100 m relay team got off to a rocky start when a weak 2nd leg by Hiroki Yanagita left them 4th in their qualifying heat in 38.06. That was ultimately enough to get them through on one of the two time qualifying spots, but it was a blow to their hopes of getting into the medals in the final. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown and Yoshihide Kiryu were excellent on 1st and 3rd, and anchor Koki Ueyama was good enough that a stronger run on 2nd could push them up into contention.
After making the semifinals on appeal, women's 1500 m NR holder Nozomi Tanaka finished 11th of 13 in her semi in a season best 3:59.70, just over 3 seconds off what it took to be a finalist. Tanaka first broke 4 minutes in the Tokyo Olympics final, a sign of how far things have progressed worldwide the last 3 years.
In the women's 100 mH repechage round, Yumi Tanaka surprised with a 2nd-place finish in Heat 3 in 12.89 (-0.2). That put her into the semifinals alongside NR holder Mako Fukube, who had already qualified with a good run in the first round heats.
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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