After leading the first day of competition, Yuto Yamamoto took Japan's only gold medal on Day 2 of the Asian U23 Athletics Championships in Ordos, China with a 7395 win in the decathlon. Yamamoto started the second day with a 71-point lead over China's Chenghao Zhu, and with 1st-place finishes in the pole vault and 1500 m built that to a final margin of victory of 109 points. Zhu dropped to bronze in 7071, overtaken by teammate Jiawei Wang who took silver with 7286.
Silver medals came in the men's 200 m, where Kota Uematsu ran a wind-aided 20.58, the women's 800 m with Kurumi Sugure 2nd in 2:09.42 and Yuri Nishida 7th in 2:12.08, the women's 5000 m thanks to a 16:50.52 by Koharu Chugo, and the men's 3000 mSC where Tetsu Sasaki came up less than 3 seconds short of another Waseda University gold in 8:56.99 behind Qatari Zakaria Elahlaami.
Bronze medals went to Ami Takahashi with a 23.66 (+1.5) in the women's 200 m and Aoi Murakami in the women's javelin throw with a 54.40 m best throw. Sayuka Kurata was 6th in the women's javelin at 52.44 m, with Hyogo Watanabe missing the men's shot put podium, 7th at 16.58 m.
In qualifying rounds, Shinya Hayashi led the men's 400 m with a 46.33 for 1st in Heat 1, but teammate Sho Tanabe missed out on qualifying when he was 3rd in Heat 2 in 47.49. Arie Aoki was off her game in the women's 400 m heats, taking 5th in Heat 2 in 54.90 and failing to advance to the final.
The Asian U23 Athletics Championships continue through Sunday.
1st Asian U23 Athletics Championships
Day 2 Japanese Results
Ordos, China, 10 July 2026
Women's 200 m Final (+1.5 m/s)
1. Yutong Jiang (China) - 23.47
2. Thi Cam Tu Le (Vietnam) - 23.50
3. Ami Takahashi (Japan) - 23.66
Men's 200 m Final (+2.2 m/s)
1. Youwen Huang (China) - 20.43
2. Kota Uematsu (Japan) - 20.58
3. Abhay Singh (India) - 20.96
Women's 800 m Final
1. Jonbibi Hukmova (Uzbekistan) - 2:08.41 - PB
2. Kurumi Sugure (Japan) - 2:09.42
3. BD Huidrom (India) - 2:10.20
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7. Yuri Nishida (Japan) - 2:12.08
Women's 5000 m Final
1. Yuan Li (China) - 16:45.07
2. Koharu Chugo (Japan) - 16:50.52
3. Thi Tuyet Li (Vietnam) - 17:05.30
Men's 3000 mSC Final
1. Zakaria Elahlaami (Qatar) - 8:54.32
2. Tetsu Sasaki (Japan) - 8:56.99
3. Wenjie Chen (China) - 9:05.00
Men's Shot Put Final
1. Zhenyu Zhang (China) - 19.40 m
2. DAD Ahmat (Qatar) - 19.18 m - PB
3. Guoyuan Xia (China) - 17.75 m
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7. Hyogo Watanabe (Japan) - 16.58 m
Women's Javelin Throw Final
1. Pin Hsun Chu (Taiwan) - 57.31 m - PB
2. Xidan Zhang (China) - 54.59 m
3. Aoi Murakami (Japan) - 54.40 m
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6. Sayuka Kurata (Japan) - 52.44 m
Men's Decathlon Final Standings
1. Yuto Yamamoto (Japan) - 7395
2. Jiawei Wang (China) - 7286
3. Chenghao Zhu (China) - 7071
Men's 400 m Final Qualifiers
Shinya Hayashi (Japan) - 46.33 (1st, H1)
Ngoc Tuong Ta (Vietnam) - 46.51 (1st, H2)
Astik Pradhan (India) - 46.51 (1st, H3)
Zhexuan Shao (China) - 46.64 (2nd, H3)
Wenqiang Liang (China) - 46.65 (2nd, H1)
Jun Shi (China) - 46.76 (2nd, H2)
Mubarak Abdulkariim Musa (Qatar) - 46.83 (3rd, H1)
Setu Mishra (India) - 47.28 (4th, H1)
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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