Ochiai, Nakatani and Yoshida Get Japan on the Board - Lima World U20 Championships Day Four Japanese Results

Japan finally got on the medal board with a silver medal from Rikuya Yoshida and a pair of bronzes from Ko Ochiai and Kaisei Nakatani on the fourth day of the Lima World U20 Championships. Yoshida was up first in the men's pole vault, where he cleared a PB 5.40 m on his first attempt, good for silver behind German Hendrik Muller who made 5.45 m. Czech Jan Krcek also PBd at 5.30 m for bronze, with Ryota Murakoso 4th at 5.20 m.

After squeezing through the men's 800 m semifinals by 0.02, NR holder Ochiai started strong in the final, 2nd through 200 m in 25.13 and 4th at 400 m in 52.19, almost dead even with his NR last month. By 600 m he dropped to 6th, but over the final 200 m he ran down Kenyans Kelvin Kimutai Koech and Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech and Qatari Hatim Ait Oulghazi to take bronze in 1:47.03 behind Ethiopian General Berhanu Ayansa and Australian Peyton Craig. Ochiai's closing split of 27.33 was actually faster than Ayana's 27.53 and Craig's 27.46, but they were just too far out of range.

Nakatani followed that up with a 2.19 m clearance on his first attempt in the men's high jump, one of only three men to make it over that height. In the qualifying round Nakatani had cleared 2.21 m, but in the final he couldn't make it work and was stopped at 2.19 m. American Scottie Vines went over 2.21 m on his first try and went as far as 2.25 m to take gold. Italy's Matteo Sioli took three attempts before he cleared 2.21 m and did it again for 2.23 m, but 2.25 m was too much and he had to be content with silver.

Both the men's and women's 10000 m race walks were high-level, with all medalists delivering world leading times, championship records and/or national records and almost everyone in both fields turning in PBs. Sotaro Osaka was only 8 seconds out of bronze in the men's race, taking a strong 5th with a 39:39.36 PB. Taisei Yoshizako turned in a PB too, clocking 40:14.67 for 8th. Both Japanese women, Suzuka Kuge and Suzu Okuno, also PBd, Kuge taking 14th in 46:38.20 and Okuno 16th in 46:51.77.

After leading the field in the heats and semifinals, women's 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo couldn't quite put it together in the final. 5th through 600 m, Kubo dropped to 6th right before the line, finishing in 2:03.31. Medalists Sarah Moraa, Claudia Hollingsworth and Sophia Gorriaran all ran in the 2:00-2:01, times Kubo ran twice this summer, but as an international debut at age 16 her performance still suggested there's more to come.

Takuto Tsuchiya scored another top 8 placing for Japan in the men's long jump final at 7.56 m (+1.1), 24 cm from bronze medalist Temoso Masikane of South Africa. Eito Omori was 10th at 7.32 m (+1.4). In the women's 3000 m final Miu Suzuki had a tough time, finishing 15th of 16th starters in 9:41.15.

In qualifying rounds:

Both Kairi Gonda and Kyo Kikuta were eliminated in the men's 400 mH semifinals, Kikuta 3rd in SF 1 in 51.04 and Gonda 3rd in SF 3 in 51.80.
The men's 4x400 m relay team of Ryota Oishi, Kentaro Shirahata, Gonda and Kikuta ran a season best 3:07.04 for 2nd behind the U.S.A. among qualifiers for the final.
No luck for the men's 4x100 m relay team of Fukuto Komuro, Kei Wakana, Katsuki Sato and Naoki Nishioka though, as they were disqualified after a missed exchange in their qualifying heat.

The Lima World U20 Championships continue through Saturday. Complete schedule and results here.

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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