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Japanese Results at World Road Running Championships


Japan had a team of 14 at the World Athletics Road Running Championships this weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark, opting not to send any women in the road mile. That was actually where the best Japan-adjacent performance came, as Mirriam Cherop, who returned to Kenya this year after several seasons with the Kansai-based Shin Nihon Jusetsu team, took bronze in 4:25.71.

The best Japanese placing was in the men's mile, where Waseda University's Ojiro Honda was 16th in a PB of 3:57.50, 0.50 off the NR but almost 4 seconds behind what Keita Satoh ran at last weekend's Fifth Avenue Mile in New York.

Top placings in the other events were all in the mid-20s, Kana Mizumoto 24th in the women's 5 km in 15:42, Rui Suzuki 28th in the men's 5 km in 13:38, Yumi Yoshikawa 25th in the women's half marathon in 1:09:34, and Yuma Nishizawa 26th in the men's half marathon in 1:01:17.

In half marathon team scoring, the Japanese men were 6th and the women 8th, disappointing given the heavy focus on the half marathon distance in the Japanese men's development system.

World Road Running Championships

Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-20 Sept. 2026

Women's Mile
1. Agathe Guillemot (France) - 4:22.74
2. Frewayni Hailu (Ethiopia) - 4:24.35
3. Mirriam Cherop (Kenya) - 4:25.71

Men's Mile
1. Robert Farken (Germany) - 3:51.80
2. Yared Nuguse (U.S.A.) - 3:52.33
3. Ruben Querinjean (Luxembourg) - 3:52.77 - NR
-----
16. Ojiro Honda (Japan) - 3:57.50 - PB
44. Tomoki Nakano (Japan) - 4:09.17 - PB

Women's 5 km
1. Likina Amebaw (Ethiopia) - 14:41
2. Caroline Makadi Girona (Kenya) - 14:48
3. Rose Davies (Australia) - 14:50 - AR
-----
24. Kana Mizumoto (Japan) - 15:42 - PB
28. Rina Kusu (Japan) - 15:48 - PB

Men's 5 km
1. Dawit Seare (Eritrea) - 12:56 - NR
2. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) - 12:59 - NR
3. Saymon Amanuel (Eritrea) - 13:00 - PB
-----
28. Rui Suzuki (Japan) - 13:38 - PB
40. Yota Mashiko (Japan) - 13:50 - PB

Women's Half Marathon
1. Agnes Jebet Ngetich (Kenya) - 1:05:15 - WR
2. Veronica Loleo (Kenya) - 1:06:05
3. Florence Niyonkuru (Rwanda) - 1:06:08 - NR
-----
25. Yumi Yoshikawa (Japan) - 1:09:34
44. Yuna Takahashi (Japan) - 1:11:12
52. Wakana Kabasawa (Japan) - 1:11:56
62. Rina Shimizu (Japan) - 1:13:07

Women's Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 3:17:33
2. U.S.A. - 3:19:51
3. Ethiopia - 3:22:40
-----
8. Japan - 3:32:42

Men's Half Marathon
1. Andreas Almgren (Sweden) - 58:06 - AR
2. Nicholas Kipkorir (Kenya) - 58:11
3. Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) - 58:26 - PB
-----
26. Yuma Nishizawa (Japan) - 1:01:17
27. Tomoya Ogikubo (Japan) - 1:01:28
34. Daisuke Sato (Japan) - 1:01:47
69. Neo Namiki (Japan) - 1:03:21

Men's Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 2:56:30
2. Ethiopia - 2:59:47
3. U.S.A. - 3:01:34
-----
6. Japan - 3:04:32

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
I was left a bit disappointed with the results from Kana Mizumoto and Wakana Kabasawa in these championships. More so the times than their placings. However, Yumi Yoshikawa has been delivering solid results all year at different distances and did the same here. Her time must give her strong belief in hitting the MGC qualification standard. Maeda Honami ran 1:09:43 the other week at the Great North Run to finish 4th. I realise this is a different course and conditions but the time from Yumi was good. Not fantastic but good enough to say, she can hit the MGC qualification standard if she holds this form and doesn't get injured. I'm hoping the Asian Games deliver some better results in terms of times. And am especially looking to see if Miu Saito can better her 3000mSC National record which I'm sure she will be trying to do.
September 21, 2026 at 10:39 AM
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