The Gumi Asian Athletics Championships rolled on Thursday and Friday. In top Japanese results:
- Gold medal favorite Rachid Muratake came through in the men's 110 mH final, the only athlete under 13.3 at 13.22 (+0.7) for the win over China's Liu Junxi and Qin Weibo.
- Yumi Tanaka added a silver to the count in the women's 100 mH final, 2nd in 13.061 (-0.1) in a photo finish with bronze medalist Wu Yanni of China, 13.068. Indian Jyoti Yarraji won gold in 12.96.
- Kenyan-born Kazakhstani Daisy Jepkemei outran Ririka Hironaka and Mikuni Yada in the women's 10000 m for gold in 30:48.44, but both Japanese women brought A-game. Hironaka's 30:56.32 for silver was her best time since 2023 and a great step back in the right direction after another round of injury and recovery, with Yada's 31:12.21 for bronze a PB by almost 8 seconds.
- The up-and-coming Yutaro Niinae ran a season best 8:24.41 for silver in the men's 3000 mSC, 3 seconds behind Indian gold medalist Avinash Sable and 3 seconds up on Qatari bronze medalist Zaharia Elahlaami. Still a teenager, Waseda University 1st-year Tetsu Sasaki was 4th in a solid 8:30.97. Together Niinage and Sasaki showed that there's more to Japanese men's steeple progress than just NR holder Ryuji Miura.
- No surprise to see South Korea's Sanghyeok Woo take men's high jump gold, clearing 2.29 m. Top Japanese man Tomohiro Shinno was a predictable silver at 2.26 m, with Thailand's Tawan Kaeodam in bronze at 2.23 m. Japan's Naoto Hasegawa was 4th with a season best 2.23 m, showing some recovery from the sciatic nerve problems that have bothered him most of this season so far.
- Another silver came in the men's discus throw via Masateru Yugami, who along with gold medalist Abuduanini Tuergong was one of only two men over 60 m at 60.38 m. Yuji Tsutsumi threw 56.84 m for 7th.
- Women's discus throw NR holder Nanaka Kori took bronze with a 56.48 m throw, China's Feng Bi the only woman to throw over 60 m with a 61.90 m for gold and Thailand's Subenrat Insaeng beating Kori for silver at 57.68 m. Maki Saito was 7th with a 54.73 m.
- The men's 5000 m saw the top 6 all break the Asian Games record as Keita Sato and Nagiya Mori worked together to try to stop 10000 m gold medalist Gulveer Singh from kicking away at the end. It came down to a 4-way sprint finish with only 0.29 separating Singh, gold in 13:24.77, Thailand's Keiran Tuntivate, silver in 13:24.97, and Mori, bronze in 13:25.06. Sato lacked the wheels to stay with them over the last 100 m, 4th in 13:26.77. 5th and 6th-placers Albert Rop of Bahrain and Abhishek Pal of India were also under the old record in 13:33.41 and 13:33.51.
- Shu Heng and Yu Tang Lin dominated in the men's long jump, Shu jumping 8.22 m for gold and Yu 8.20 m for silver. Japan's Keito Yamaura lucked into bronze by 3 cm at 8.08 m, with Hibiki Tsuha 6th at 7.94 m.
- Miu Saito ran the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman in the 3000 mSC, but even at 9:38.16 she was over 10 seconds outside the medals in 4th. Gold and bronze went to Kazakhstani athletes born in Kenya, with silver medalist Parul Chaudhary, under the old championships record in 9:12.46, the only medalist actually born in Asia. Manami Nishiyama was 6th in 9:52.35.
- No luck in the women's long jump, where NR holder Sumire Hata was 10 cm out of the medals at 6.20 m. Maya Takeuchi was 8th at 6.05 m.
- The women's high jump also saw both Japanese women out of the medals, Shieriai Tsuda 7th at 1.83 m and Nagisa Takahashi 8th at 1.80 m.
The Asian Championships wrap up Saturday with finals featuring Japanese athletes in the men's javelin throw, men's pole vault, women's 200 m, men's 200 m, men's 400 mH, women's 5000 m, women's 800 m and men's 800 m. Streaming starts at 6:00 p.m. local time.
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