Japanese Athletes in Action on Tokyo World Championships Day 8

It's getting near the end of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships, and with only one bronze medal so far the host country's chances of the kind of team performance it was hoping for are fading. A look at who's in action on Day 8:

7:30 - Women's 20 km Race Walk

Nanako Fujii (Edion) - 1:26:33 - 1st, Nationals

Kumiko Okada (Fujitsu) - 1:28:17 - 2nd, Nationals

Ayane Yanai (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 1:29:44 - 4th, Nationals

Prognosis: Fujii's win at this year's National Championships makes her the fastest woman in the field on SB and 2nd on PB. Okada and Yanai aren't likely to factor into the top 8, but Fujii is a realistic medal contender.

9:00 / 10:35 - Men's Discus Throw Qualification

Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 64.48 m - 3rd, Nationals

Prognosis: Yugami made it into the Worlds field on a host country slot and is ranked 3rd from its bottom. He's had a decent season, and while there's almost no chance of him making the final a PB in front of a home crowd would be a great showing.

9:50 - Men's 20 km Race Walk

Toshikazu Yamanishi (Aichi Seiko) - 1:16:10 - 1st, Nationals

Satoshi Maruo (Aichi Seiko) - 1:17:24 - 2nd, Nationals

Kento Yoshikawa (Sunbelx) - 1:17:38 - 3rd, Nationals

Prognosis: The only man in the field to have broken 1:17, it's Yamanishi's race to lose. Maruo, doubling back from the 35 km, is next on both PB and SB and Yoshikawa 5th, so the chances of at least one medal are looking pretty good. Especially with the unfortunate withdrawal of 35 km gold medalist Evan Dunfee of Canada with injuries he sustained in pushing through the last 10 km of that race.

19:35 - Men's 4x400 m Relay Heats

Yuki Joseph Nakajima (Fujitsu) - 44.44 - 5th, Nationals

Fuga Sato (Mizuno) - 45.10 - 1st, Nationals

Kenki Imaizumi (Uchida Yoko AC) - 45.29 - 2nd, Nationals

Sho Tanabe (Chuo Univ.) - 45.39 - 3rd, Nationals

Takuho Yoshizu (Miki House) - 45.40 - 4th, Nationals

Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) - 45.40 - 4th, H2, Nationals

Shinya Hayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 45.65 - 6th, Nationals

Prognosis: The men's 4x400 m has been coming up in recent years, not quite to the level of the 4x100 m but getting there. Nakajima is in great shape with a 44.44 NR in the heats and making the final in the individual race and Fuga Sato running a 45.10 SB in his heat. But without Kentaro Sato in peak form there's a gap in the lineup that may be too big to patch up this time around.

20:25 - Men's 4x100 m Relay Heats

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Toray) - 9.96 (+0.5) - 4th, Heat 7, Nationals

Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 9.99 (+1.5) - 1st, Nationals

Yuhi Mori (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.00 (+1.3) - 7th, Nationals

Hiroki Yanagita (Toyo Univ.) - 10.00 (+0.3) - DQ, Nationals

Sorato Shimizu (Seiryo H.S.) - 10.00 (+1.7) - 4th, SF3, Nationals

Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.08 (+0.3) - 5th, Nationals

Naoki Inoue (Waseda Univ.) - 10.12 (+0.4) - 4th, Nationals

Naoki Okami (Aomori Pref. Gov't) 10.17 (+0.9) - 2nd, Nationals

Prognosis: The 100 m was a tough squad to make this time, with 3 people running 10.00 PBs behind sub-10 men Sani Brown and Kiryu, so it was a bit disappointing that nobody made the semifinals. It was pretty clear that Sani Brown wasn't in good form in the 100 m, but even without him there are the seeds of a good 4x100 m team between Kiryu, Mori, Yanagita and Shimizu.

21:29 - Women's 5000 m Final

Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 14:31.88 - 1st, Nationals

Prognosis: A top 8 placing by NR holder Tanaka would be a great showing, with her PB ranking her 9th in the field and her SB 15th.

text and photo © 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved