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Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup


Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break:
  • Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish.
  • Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10.
  • There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima. Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for all-time Japanese #2. In other results, veteran Yoshihide Kiryu turned in a 10.03 (+1.5) SB to win his heat in the men's 100 m, but skipped out on the final. Close behind him in the same heat, Shoma Yamamoto ran a 10.04 PB, then went on to take the final in 10.10 (+0.3). Kentaro Shirahata of Toyo University won the 400 m in 45.27, the 6th-best time ever by a Japanese collegiate athlete. Abigail Fuuka Ido just missed her own 200 m NR, winning in 22.81 (+0.5) just 0.02 off the record she set at the same meet last year.
  • Not content with her Fuji Hokuriku performance, Nakajima went 0.02 better with another new 100 mH NR of 12.60 (+0.7) to win the Athlete Night Games in Fukui meet on Aug. 15. Yamamoto scored another win too, taking the men's 100 m in 10.05 (+0.9). 400 m specialist Fuga Sato took the men's 200 m with a 20.54 (+1.6) PB. Known more as a discus throw athlete, Shinichi Yukinaga went over 18 m for the first time in the shot put, winning with a 18.15 m PB.
  • Men's 1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh came up short of his goal of a new senior NR at the Stumptown Twilight meet in Oregon on Aug. 15, but delivered his third sub-3:40 of the season with a 3:38.59 for 4th. Only national champ Kazuto Iizawa has also gone sub-3:40 three times this season, no small achievement for Satoh only 4 months into his shift back to shorter distances after 4 years of Hakone Ekiden focus in college.
  • Masaki Ejima had an off day at the Golden Sand meet in Poland on Aug. 17, placing 9th of 11 with his lowest clearance of the season, 5.15 m.
  • Olympic champ Haruka Kitaguchi had the performance of what has been a tough season for her so far, winning the Lausanne Diamond League meet on Aug. 21 with a 64.90 m SB, her best throw since winning the 2024 Diamond League final almost 2 years ago. The only other Japanese athletes in the meet, Tatsuki Abe and Shunsuke Izumiya were 5th and 7th in the men's 110 mH, Abe running 13.39 (-0.5) and Izumiya 13.55 behind American winner Jamal Britt's 13.13.

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
Yesterday, I was watching the latest Diamond League 100mH Womens race and thinking Hitomi Nakajima could perhaps get into that race with her current times and form and this morning I read she will participate at the Silesia event due to a last minute withdrawal of another athlete! How exciting! I'm so happy for her. I hope she can perform well and either break or come close to breaking the National record again. She is in the form of her life so being in that elite field is incredible.
August 23, 2026 at 6:15 AM
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