japan running news

The Paris Paralympics wrapped up with another trio of bronze medals by Japanese athletes. In Friday's T52 men's 100 m final, Tomoki Sato held off Canada's Anthony Bouchard and Mexico's Salvador Hernandez Mondragon by 0.11 for bronze in 17.44 (+1.6). Tomoya Ito and Tatsuya Ito were 7th and 8th in 17.67 and 17.91, with Belgian Maxime Carabin winning gold in 16.70. In Sunday's marathons, Tomoki Suzuki lost out to China's Hua Jin in the race for T54 men's silver, Jin getting there first in 1:31:19 and Suzuki 4 seconds back in 1:31:23 for bronze. But both were far behind gold medalist Marcel Hug of Switzerland, who had a dominant run in 1:27:39 for the win. Ryota Yoshida clocked 1:37:15 for 8th. Wakako Tsuchida and Tsubasa Kina were off their best in the T54 women's race, Tsuchida 6th in 1:52:39 and Kina 12th in 2:04:53. In the T12 women's marathon, Paralympic and world record holder Misato Michishita lost both records to Moroccans Fatima Ez

  With three days of athletics competition left at the 2024 Paris Paralympics Japan is well onto the medal table with four silvers and two bronze medals, but it has yet to score gold. Kenya Karasawa took silver in the T11 men's 5000 m on the first day of competition, running an Asian record 14:51.48 to finish between Brazilians Julio Cesar Agripino dos Santos , whose 14:48.85 world record earned him gold, and Yeltsin Jacques , bronze in 14:52.61. Japan's Shinya Wada was 4thin 15:16.41. Tomoki Sato and Tomoya Ito followed Karasawa in the evening session with silver and bronze in the T52 men's 400 m. Belgian Maxime Carabin won gold in 55.10, Sato close behind in 56.26 for silver and Ito an easy bronze in 1:01.08. It took another two days for Japan's next medal to come, this one from Shuta Kawakami in the T13 men's 100 m. Gold and silver medalists Skander Djamal Athmani of Algeria and Salum Ageze Kashafali of Norway were far ahead in 10.42 (-0.1) and 10.47, b

On Sept. 6 Yamada Holdings announced that its women's ekiden team has scratched from the Oct. 20 Princess Ekiden, the qualifying race for the Nov. 24 Queens Ekiden national corporate women's championships in Sendai. Yamada Holdings had been targeting a podium finish at the Queens Ekiden this year. The announcement stated, "A restructured development system was put in place this year to develop a stronger team, but with multiple athletes injured we have made the decision to withdraw from running the Princess Ekiden." Other races on the schedule this season remain a question mark and will depend on athletes' conditions. The Yamada Holdings team was 22nd at the Queens Ekiden last year, well off the podium and earning the guaranteed place at the following year's race that comes with it. Longtime coaching staff member Kei Yokoyama , 49, was appointed head coach this year after 10 years as assistant coach, and hopes were high that the team would return to previous

The Lima World U20 Championships wrapped with 5th-place finishes by Japanese athletes in both finals that had them. In the men's 3000 mSC final, Soma Nagahara started conservatively, sitting 11th at 1000 m in 2:49.36 with leader Edmund Serem of Kenya almost 2 second ahead. Over the next 1000 m Nagahara moved up into 5th, and that's where he stayed. Serem took gold in an U20 world-leading 8:15.28, and with 8 of the next 9 finishers running PBs to get there Nagahara hung on for 5th in a PB 8:30.37 just over 6 seconds outside the medals. Nagahara's former Saku Chosei H.S. teammate Tetsu Sasaki , who had scratched from the 3000 m earlier in the championships, was in 15th at 1000 m but dropped to last, 16th of 16 in 9:16.20 and the only athlete not to break 9 minutes. The men's 4x400 m relay got off to a slow start, opening runner Ryota Oishi 7th of 9 in 47.66. Japan's next two runners Kentaro Shirahata and Kairi Gonda moved up to 6th and then 5th, and with a stro