japan running news

by Brett Larner

Day two of athletics at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics brought high hopes for Japanese men's long distance with a talented 10000 m squad led by national record holder Kota Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei).  But in a familiar sight to anyone who remembers the 10000 m at last year's Beijing World Championships, Murayama and Beijing last-placer Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) were out of the action before it even started.  Murayama sank to 30th of 32 finishers in 29:02.51 with Shitara, who lost to Murayama's twin brother Kenta in Beijing, a few strides ahead in 28:55.23 for 29th.

Just lapping Murayama in the final meters, U.S.-based 10000 m national champion Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) ran 27:51.94, the third-fastest ever by a Japanese man at the Olympics, for 17th to handily beat his pre-race ranking of 23rd in the field.  Osako held on to the lead group long into the race and kept pushing with almost even first and second half splits, kicking in the home straight …

by Brett Larner
videos c/o JAAF
click here for Day Two results, video and report 
click here for Day Three results, video and report

The 100th edition of the Japanese National Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday at Nagoya's Paloma Mizuho Stadium amid on and off rain, the chance to make the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team there for the top end of the field.



The race of the day was the women's 10000 m, where Japan Post teammates Ayuko Suzuki and Hanami Sekine worked together to both break the JAAF's tough selection standards.  The only woman in the field to have already broken the JAAF's 31:23.17 standard, Suzuki pushed the pace just under JAAF standard territory from the start.  Sekine, with a 31:48.90 best, alternated the lead, the two of them keeping it skimming just under standard pace and taking over when the other slowed.  The rest of the field disappeared one by one, 31:37.32 runner Yuka Takashima, in her debut in the Shiseido team uniform, the last to hang o…

This is how they watch track in Japan. pic.twitter.com/MuhnnTVrFT — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) August 22, 2015Beijing, China, 8/22/15
click here for complete results

Men's 100 m Heat 1-0.1 m/s
1. Asafa Powell (Jamaica) - 9.95 - Q
2. Bingtian Su (China) - 10.03 - Q
3. Akani Simbine (South Africa) - 10.09 - Q
4. Kei Takase (Japan) - 10.15

Men's 10000 m
1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 27:01.13
2. Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (Kenya) - 27:01.76
3. Paul Tanui (Kenya) - 27:02.83
4. Bedan Karoki (Kenya) - 27:04.77
5. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:08.91
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18. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Japan) - 28:25.77
22. Kenta Murayama (Japan) - 29:50.22
23. Yuta Shitara (Japan) - 30:08.35

Men's 400 mH Heat 1
1. Nicholas Bett (Kenya) - 48.37 - Q
2. Timofey Chalyy (Russia) - 49.05 - Q
3. Jeffery Gibson (Bahamas) - 49.09 - Q
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8. Takayuki Kishimoto (Japan) - 49.78

Men's 400 mH Heat 2
1. Boniface Mucheru Tumuti (Kenya) - 48.79 - Q
2. Michael Tinsley (U.S.A.) - 48.91 - Q
3. Javier Culson (Puerto Rico) …

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2013/10/07/kiji/K20131007006765350.html

translated by Brett Larner

As the 6th East Asian Games got underway Oct. 7 in Tianjin, China, 20-year-old Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) ran 16:09.72 to win Japan's first gold medal in the Games' first final, the women's 5000 m. Matsuzaki surged away from the rest of the field of five near 3000 m, opening a gap of 26 seconds on the 2nd-place runner from North Korea. "This was a good experience-builder," she said post-race. "My goal was to win and I achieved that. I was expecting the pace to get slow, so when I did I was ready for it and didn't get nervous or impatient."

In other events, London Olympian Seito Yamamoto (Chukyo Univ.) cleared 5.50 m to win the men's pole vault with teammate Hiroki Ogita (Mizuno) 3rd in 5.30 m.

by Brett Larner

The 2013 Japanese National Track and Field Championships kick off today at western Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium, three days of top-level domestic action with places on the national team for August's Moscow World Championships at stake.  The Federation set multi-tiered standards for Worlds qualification this year.  Any athlete with an A-standard mark who wins their event will automatically be on the team.  Likewise for any athlete clearing an ambitious set of special qualifying marks, in many cases better than the Japanese national records, and finishes in the top eight.  Any other A or B-standard athlete who makes the top three will also be given consideration.

Below is a quick guide to the Day One finals with the best head-to-head competitions and the most people likely to go on to Moscow.  Click here for complete entry lists.  JRN will be on-site to cover the meet each day, so check back for detailed coverage as the weekend progresses.

Women's 10000 m- June …