Muratake Becomes Japan's 1st-Ever 110 mH Finalist - Paris Olympics Day 7 Evening Session Japanese Results

Former Juntendo University teammates and co-NR holders Rachid Muratake and Shunsuke Izumiya had the chance to make history in the first track event of the evening session on day 7 of athletics at the Paris Olympics. No Japanese man had ever made it to the final of an Olympic 110 m hurdles before, and with the top 2 finishers in each semifinal plus the next 2 fastest going on to the final both lined up in their SF with the 2nd-fastest season best time in their race.

Muratake was up first, but with a 13.26 (+0.1) for 4th in SF1 his chances of getting through didn't look good. Senegal's Louis Francois Mendy kept Muratake's hopes alive when he ran only 13.34 (-0.1) for 3rd in SF2, leaving it to SF3 and Izumiya. Izumiya was sluggish through the early and middle phases of the race but came back with a brilliant last 20 m to take 3rd. When his time of 13.32 (+0.6) came up it meant Muratake was in as Japan's first Olympic finalist, but Izumiya himself was just short of knocking his former teammate out at 9th overall.

Tsukuba University's Towa Uzawa was up next in the men's 200 m semifinals. Having run 20.23 to win last summer's Asian Games and 20.26 this season, the 20.31 that it ultimately took to make the final was in range of his ability. But Uzawa managed only a 20.54 (-0.2) for 6th in SF2, bringing his individual Olympics to an end.

Another Juntendo graduate, NR holder Ryuji Miura lined up in the 3000 m SC final to close the night. At the Tokyo Olympics Miura had made a splash with aggressive frontrunning that gave him an 8:09.92 NR and put him 7th in the final. Here he was more cautious, staying near the middle of the pack early, moving up behind the leaders mid-race and then dropping back out of the top 10 late. Over the last lap he picked up enough people to pick up 8th in 8:11.72, Japan's fourth top 8 finish in Paris but a small step backward from 3 years ago.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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 ...

japan running news

Search This Blog