Skip to main content

Abe Takes Hurdles Gold - World University Games Day 4 Japanese Results


Japan scored its first gold medal in athletics at the 2025 FISU World University Games on the fourth day of competition. Strong in the qualifying rounds, Tatsuki Abe (Juntendo Univ.) ran away from the men's 110 mH field with a 13.47 (-0.3) for the win over silver and bronze medalists Angel Diaz Rodriguez of Spain and Mondray Barnard of South Africa, both timed at 13.59. Hayato Higuchi (Hosei Univ.) was off his best at 13.90 for 7th.

Koki Fujihara (Toyo Univ.) brought home another medal in the men's long jump. Opening with a solid 8.00 (-0.8) jump, Fujihara sat in 1st through the first 3 rounds until China's Heng Shu dropped a 8.07 m (-0.6) jump in the 4th round. Fujihara couldn't match that, and when Shu ended with a 8.09 m (+0.9) jump on his final attempt Fujihara was left with silver. German Luka Herden took bronze with a 7.96 m (-0.1) on his 2nd attempt.


No medals came in the men's high jump, where gold medal contender Sota Haraguchi (Juntendo Univ.) struggled to a 10th-place finish after clearing only 2.13 m. Shun Yamanaka (Kyoto Univ.) was 7th at 2.17 m, with Israeli Jonathan Kapitolnik tying Haraguchi's best at 2.27 m for the win.

In qualifying rounds, after a promising run in the heats, Genta Iki (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) pulled up in the men's 200 m semifinals, last in his SF and overall in 23.08 (-1.0). Both Mao Shimano (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) and Rei Honda (Juntendo Univ.) made it through the first round heats of the women's 100 mH, Shimano in 13.04 (+0.5) for the top spot in Heat 3 and Honda in 13.42 (+0.6) for 4th in Heat 4. Potential Tokyo World Championships team member Rin Suzuki (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) qualified for the men's javelin throw final with a 74.01 m for 4th in the B-group, but Hiroya Kiyokawa (Tokai Univ.) didn't make it after finishing only 7th the A-group with a 69.74 m throw.

Tetsu Sasaki (Waseda Univ.) was 4th in Heat 1 of the men's 3000 mSC in 8:51.38, easily making the final. As with the 10000 m no Japanese men ran the 5000 m heats, and in the women's 5000 m heats Wakana Hashimoto (Meijo Univ.) missed the final with only a 16:17.90 for 11th in Heat 2, while her Meijo teammate Mei Hosomi was a DNS in Heat 1 after a great run in the 10000 m.

The FISU World University Games continue through Sunday.

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...