japan running news

http://www.iaaf.org/WJC10/news/kind=112/newsid=57566.html 2010 World Junior Championships - Top Results click here for complete results Women's 5000 m 1. Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) - 15:08.06 2. Mercy Cherono (KEN) - 15:09.19 3. Alice Aprot Nawowuna (KEN) - 15:17.39 - PB ----- 5. Ayuko Suzuki (JPN) - 15:47.36 - PB (ranked 10th pre-race) 8. Nanaka Izawa (JPN) - 15:59.29 (ranked 6th pre-race) In other results: Gold medal favorite Kumiko Okada scored Japan's first medal of the games, a bronze in the women's 10000 m race walk. Okada was just off her PB, clocking 45:56.15, but was outdone by over a minute and a half by Russians Elena Lashmanova and Anna Lukyanova , both of whom were competing in their first track 10000 m. Japan's Chiaki Asada took 6th in 46:39.93, a PB by 7 seconds. Takatoshi Abe won the 4th heat of the men's 400 mH in 50.53, a season best. He was the only runner in all seven heats to go under 51. Takumi Kuki and Ryo Onabuta were eliminated in the men...

by Brett Larner The 2010 World Junior Championships in athletics begin tomorrow, July 19, in Moncton, Canada and Japan is sending a solid team with more realistic medal chances than its senior teams typically have at the World Championships level. Japan's best chance for a gold medal may be in the women's 10000 m race walk, where Kumiko Okada 's PB of 45:23.83 is well over a minute better than her closest rival Chiaki Asada . Be this as it may, the lion's share of the attention is likely to be on Japan's other legitimate gold medal contender, sprinter Shota Iizuka in the men's 200 m. Iizuka, a first-year at Chuo University, gained international attention in May thanks to a Youtube video of his stunning anchor leg for Chuo in the men's 4 x 100 m relay at the Kanto Regional University Championships. In that world-class performance Iizuka singlehandedly gave Chuo a one-second margin of victory and the national collegiate record of 38.54. Iizuka went on to win ...