Asian Championships Day 5 Japanese Results

The Asian Athletics Championships wrapped up Saturday in Gumi, South Korea with a string of record-setting performances.

At the top of the list was the men's 200 m final, where Towa Uzawa ran a championships record and PB 20.21 (+0.8) to win gold, putting him at all-time Japanese #4 and all-time Asian #6. Saudi Abdul Abdu I Atafi and India's Animesh Kujur took silver and bronze in 20.31 and 20.32, with veteran Shota Iizuka 4th in a season best 20.66 that put him one step closer to a 14-straight year under 20.50.
NR holder Rin Kubo turned in one of the fastest performances of her career so far in the women's 800 m final, just losing out to China's Wu Hongjiao. Wu delivered a meet record 2:00.08 for gold, Kubo just behind her in 2:00.42 for silver and India's Pooja Pooja a few strides back in 2:01.89 for bronze. Ayano Shiomi was 5th in 2:03.59.
Yuta Sakiyama came up with a PB 83.75 m throw on his final attempt in the men's javelin, good enough for all-time Japanese #5 and bronze behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem at 86.40 m and India's Sachin Yadav at 85.16 m. All-time JPN #2 Ryohei Arai was 9th at 74.21 m.
A Kenyan running under the Kazakhstan flag, Norah Jeruto Tanui soloed a 14:58.71 championships record for gold in the women's 5000 m. Japan's Yuma Yamamoto and Sora Shinozakura took turns leading the pack behind Tanui, where the race for silver came down to Yamamoto and India's Parul Chaudhary. Chaudhary had the strong kick, taking silver in 15:15.33 with Yamamoto less than 4 seconds off her PB in 15:16.86 for bronze. Shinozakura faded to 7th in 15:54.15.
Yukichi Ishii and NR holder Ko Ochiai missed out on medals in the men's 800 m final. Ishii was 4th in 1:46.74, over a second and a half behind Qatari bronze medalist AHA Abdalla, with Ochiai far off his best in 1:48.01 for 5th after having won his qualifying heat.
Remi Tsuruta made the women's 200 m final but was just out of the medals, running 23.29 (+0.3) for 4th. China's Chen Yujie outleaned Singapore's Veronica Pereira for gold 22.97 to 22.98, with China's Li Yuting just beating out Tsuruta for bronze in 23.23.
Shota Inoue took the men's 400 mH final out hard, leading through 300 m before getting passed by Qataris A.A.S. Al Saleck and BMAA Hemeida, then Taiwan's Chung Wei Ling. One of the Qataris was disqualified immediately after the finish, but when he was reinstated Inoue's final position was 4th in 50.02.
No medals in the men's pole vault, where Seito Yamamoto took 7th at 5.42 m and Tomoya Karasawa 8th at 5.32 m.

In the final medal count China took the top spot with 19 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze. India was next with 8 gold, 10 silver and 6 bronze, with Japan 3rd at 5 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. Heavily represented by African-born athletes, Kazakhstan and Qatar tied for 4th with 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze, holding South Korea back to 6th with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. The main focus for Japanese athletes now turns to the July 4-6 National Championships in Tokyo on the same track where the world's greatest city will host the World Championships this September.

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Chisato Fukushima Selected as First Women`s 100 m Olympian in 56 Years

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080706-00000027-yom-spo http://www.47news.jp/CN/200807/CN2008070601000467.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On July 6 Rikuren announced that it has added women`s 100 m runner Chisato Fukushima (20, Hokkaido HiTec AC) to the Beijing Olympic team. Fukushima will become the first Japanese woman to compete in the Olympic 100 m since Ayako Yoshikawa ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Fukushima broke the Olympic B-standard of 11.42 with her national record-tying 11.36 mark at April`s Oda Memorial Meet. Although she won June`s National Track and Field Championships, Fukushima was not initially selected for the team as she did not meet the Olympic A-standard. In light of her victory at today`s Nambu Memorial Meet in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Rikuren reversed its decision and added her to the Olympic team lineup. Fukushima reacted to the news of her Beijing ticket by saying, "It hasn`t really hit me that it`s real yet. I would be honored to be the tri...

japan running news

Search This Blog