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.

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive...

Tomita Breaks Gold Coast Half CR

After a great season so far that has included a win on the New Year Ekiden First Stage in January and a 1:00:58 PB at the National Corporate Half in February, Shumpei Tomita (Logisteed) added another one with a 1:00:52 CR for the win at the China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon . Pacer James Hansen and 2-time winner Brett Robinson went out fast, with Australian 10 km NR holder Sam Clifford and Chuo University student Daichi Fujita closing it up to make a lead quartet that hit 5 km in 14:12. Clifford soon dropped off, and when Hansen stepped off at 10 km in 28:44 it was down to just Robinson and Fujita. Fujita, who came into the race with only a 1:03:57 best, couldn't hang with the more experienced Robinson and faded, although to his credit he hung on for a new PB of 1:02:55 in 12th. Robinson looked like he had a 3rd title down, but by 15 km, hit in 43:33, he'd been run down by the front end of the chase pack, Tomita, veteran Kazuto Kawabata and debuting Australian Ed ...

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