Triple Gold to Wrap Asian U23 Championships

Triple Gold to Wrap Asian U23 Championships - Day 4 Japanese Results

The first edition of the Asian U23 Athletics Championships in Ordos, China wrapped with a trio of gold medals in distance events from Japanese athletes. Sotaro Osaka started it off in the men's half marathon race walk, winning an exciting race against China's Kaiyuan Yang by just 1 second, 1:26:11 to 1:26:12. Taisei Yoshizako was just over a minute back in bronze in 1:27:15, clear of 4th place by 7 minutes.

Kana Mizumoto kept the momentum going in the women's 10000 m, outrunning China's Yiting Yang by 18 seconds for gold in 33:24.87. In an extremely tactical men's 1500 m Takumi Shiobara and Ryo Higuchi replicated Osaka and Yoshizako's RW performance, Shiobara taking gold in 3:53.57 over Qatari Zakaria Elahlaami and Higuchi in bronze position in 3:54.55.

Airi Tajima added another bronze to the day's total in the women's 1500 m, 3rd in 4:21.09 behind Chinese duo Yuan Li and Shuqi Ye. The men's high jump is one of Japan's strongest events, but Sota Haraguchi and Daina Okamatsu were both off their best this time around, Haraguchi 4th at 2.10 m and Okamatsu 6th with a 2.05 m clearance. Gold medalist Amir Nagaev (Uzbekistan) cleared 2.16 m.

Altogether Japan won 7 gold medals, 8 silver and 7 bronze at the Asian U23 Athletics Championships, 2nd behind hosts China who picked up 22 gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze. Uzbekistan was 3rd with 5 gold and 4 silver.

1st Asian U23 Athletics Championships

Day 4 Japanese Results

Ordos, China, 12 July 2026

complete results

Women's 1500 m Final

1. Yuan Li (China) - 4:19.88

2. Shuqi Ye (China) - 4:20.15

3. Airi Tajima (Japan) - 4:21.09

-----

6. Mana Aiba (Japan) - 4:25.91

Men's 1500 m Final

1. Takumi Shiobara (Japan) - 3:53.57

2. Zakaria Elahlaami (Qatar) - 3:54.11

3. Ryo Higuchi (Japan) - 3:54.55

Women's 10000 m Final

1. Kana Mizumoto (Japan) - 33:24.87

2. Yiting Yang (China) - 33:42.54

3. Thi Tuyet Le (Vietnam) - 34:47.53

Men's Half Marathon Race Walk Final

1. Sotaro Osaka (Japan) - 1:26:11

2. Kaiyuan Yang (China) - 1:26:12

3. Taisei Yoshizako (Japan) - 1:27:15

Men's High Jump Final

1. Amir Nagaev (Uzbekistan) - 2.16 m

2. Chen Hu (China) - 2.13 m

3. Tzu Chieh Lu (Taiwan) - 2.13 m

-----

4. Sota Haraguchi (Japan) - 2.10 m

6. Daina Okamatsu (Japan) - 2.05 m

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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