Paris Olympics Day 1 and 2 Japanese Results

Athletics competition kicked off at the Paris Olympics with the men's and women's 20 km race walks. One of Japan's best medal chances, the men's race saw Koki Ikeda and Yuta Koga sit in the second pack through the second half of the race, ultimately finishing 7th and 8th in 1:19:41 and 1:19:50. Ikeda was only 30 seconds back from bronze medalist Alvaro Martin of Spain and another 16 seconds from gold medalist Brian Pintado of Ecuador. Third Japanese man Ryo Hamanishi was 18th in 1:20:33. Overall it was an improvement on the team's performance in the Budapest World Championships last summer, where Koga was 12th and Ikeda 15th.

With Kumiko Okada and Ayane Yanai withdrawing to focus on the mixed relay, the women's 20 km race walk had only one Japanese athlete, Nanako Fujii. With China's Jiayu Yang leading all three medalists under 1:26:00 in 1:25:54, Fujii was a distant 32nd in 1:34:26.

No Japanese athletes were in action in the morning session at the start of day two, but all three women in the 5000 m heats at the top of the evening session were eliminated. Yuma Yamamoto led much of the first heat and at one point had a lead of 50 m, but after the pack caught her and NR holder Nozomi Tanaka took over Yamamoto faded to 17th of 20 finishers in 15:43.67. Tanaka led the pack the rest of the way, but with 9 people competing for 8 qualifying spots over the last lap she was dropped by the other 8 in the home straight and took 9th in 15:00.62, the fastest non-qualifier in either heat. A late addition to the Olympic team when a roll down spot opened up, Wakana Kabasawa was 19th of 20 finishers in heat two in 15:50.86.

In the women's triple jump qualifying round, Mariko Morimoto jumped 13.40 m (-0.6) for 14th in Group B, missing out on a place in the final by 65 cm.

In the brilliant men's 10000 m final that saw the top 13 go under 27 minutes, 2024 national champion Jun Kasai, another late addition to the team, ran a respectable 27:53.18 but finished only 20th of 24 finishers. Runner-up at both the 2023 and 2024 national championships, Tomoki Ota never looked good and finished 24th in 29:12.48, lapped twice by medalists Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, Berihu Aregawi of Ethiopia and Grant Fisher of the U.S.A. Kyudenko team member Benard Koech was 5th in a PB of 26:43.98.

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey

Juntendo University Legendary Coach Sawaki Steps Down Amid Abuse Allegations After 4 Athletes Taken to Hospital - "This is the Way We've Always Done It"

Juntendo University is one of the true powers of the Hakone Ekiden, with 11 wins in 65 appearances and producing current 3000 mSC and 10000 m national record holders Ryuji Miura and Kazuya Shiojiri . But an investigation by the Weekly Shincho gossip rag has uncovered students' accusations of abuse and power harassment against a famed honorary head coach. The university administration has acknowledged that student athletes were put in danger and indicated that the coach in question would step away from any coaching duties. The accused man is Keisuke Sawaki , 80, former head coach of the Juntendo track and field team and currently serving as a specially-appointed professor and honorary head coach at the university. A Juntendo alumnus and two-time Olympian who competed in long distance track events at both the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympics, as head coach Sawaki led Juntendo to 9 of its 11 Hakone victories. Those successes led to him serving at one point as executive dir

Kokusai Budo University Time Trials Meet Banned by IUAU for Incorrect Practices

The Inter-University Athletics Union of Japan has announced that it has discovered a history of incorrect practices at meets hosted by the Kokusai Budo University track and field team at its home track. According to the IUAU, for a period running at least from April, 2014 through October, 2023, the following methodologies not in compliance with official regulations were common at KBU meets: When there was a headwind on the home straight of the track, the 100 m and 110 m hurdles, including those in combined events, were run in the opposite direction without proper certification to do so. In the 110 mH the distance from the start to the first hurdle, 13.72 m, is 30 cm shorter than from the 10th hurdle to the finish, 14.02 m. When KBU conducted the 110 mH in reverse it placed all hurdles 30 cm closer to the finish to account for that but measured the distance from the marks for the regular direction with a tape measure and marked it with tape. When races were run in the reverse directio

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