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Japanese Athletes in Action on Tokyo World Championships Day 7




Another short day at the World Athletics Championships for the home team, with a total of 4 athletes competing in only 2 events on day 7.

19:30 / 21:00 - Women's Javelin Throw Qualification
Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) - 66.13 m - 1st, 2024 Nationals
Momone Ueda (Zenrin) - 62.20 m - 1st, Nationals
Sae Takemoto (Orico) - 60.51 m - 3rd, Nationals

Prognosis:The defending Olympic and world champion, Kitaguchi is coming back from injury. Her last 2 Diamond League meets were disastrous, then only average, but at least she's trending in the right direction. The only question is whether she's had enough time to get to full operational status. Ueda and Takemoto will have a tough time making it through the qualification round, so if Kitaguchi is far from peak form there's the prospect of no Japanese women in the final.

20:05 - Men's 5000 m Heats
Nagiya Mori (Honda) - 13:15.07 - 2nd, Nationals

Prognosis: Mori has been running well, by Japanese standards, all season, the only misstep a loss to Ryuto Ikawa at Nationals. 13:15 is a big stretch for making the final, but with Honda being a major sponsor of Tokyo Worlds it would be a major coup if he pulled it out.

text and photo © 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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