by Brett Larner
A large Japanese men's contingent returned this year to Heusden, the site of Takayuki Matsumiya's 13:13.20 national record for 5000 m, for the July 13 KBC Nacht meet. Moscow World Championships 10000 m team members and Saku Chosei H.S. graduates Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) ran the 5000 m A-heat in pursuit of A or B-standard times that would allow them the option of doubling in Moscow. Sato, already all-time Japanese #2 over 3000 m and #3 over 10000 m, surprised by chopping ten seconds off his best to finish 8th just off the national record in 13:13.60 for another all-time Japanese #3 ranking. Osako, who recently turned 22, came up short of the B-standard but went under 13:30 for the first time, finishing 17th in a new PB of 13:27.54. Having cleared the World Championships A-standard, Sato is now the only Japanese man with the 5000 m A or B and could line up in both the 5 and 10, something that would have been hard to ima…
A large Japanese men's contingent returned this year to Heusden, the site of Takayuki Matsumiya's 13:13.20 national record for 5000 m, for the July 13 KBC Nacht meet. Moscow World Championships 10000 m team members and Saku Chosei H.S. graduates Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) ran the 5000 m A-heat in pursuit of A or B-standard times that would allow them the option of doubling in Moscow. Sato, already all-time Japanese #2 over 3000 m and #3 over 10000 m, surprised by chopping ten seconds off his best to finish 8th just off the national record in 13:13.60 for another all-time Japanese #3 ranking. Osako, who recently turned 22, came up short of the B-standard but went under 13:30 for the first time, finishing 17th in a new PB of 13:27.54. Having cleared the World Championships A-standard, Sato is now the only Japanese man with the 5000 m A or B and could line up in both the 5 and 10, something that would have been hard to ima…