japan running news

On April 4 the JAAF announced its medal targets and other plans for this summer's Paris Olympics. At a press conference in Tokyo, development committee chair Kazuhiko Yamazaki told reporters, "Last summer at the Budapest World Championships we had two medals and eleven top 8 placings. We'd like to equal or do better than that." The Japanese Olympic team will be based in Cergy, France outside Paris for its pre-Olympics base. Athletes will begin arriving at the base in late July, and a Japanese chef will prepare their meals at the local hotel. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20240404-U34EFTADRZPB3ATP7TUYR3LCEU/?outputType=theme_paris2024 translated by Brett Larner

The World Athletics Championships wrapped up August 27 in Budapest after 9 days of competition. Japan earned only one gold and one bronze medal, but it had a record 11 top-8 placings, many in events where Japan has typically lagged behind the rest of the world. After the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the JAAF set about on a program to develop "unwavering athletes" in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, raising the level of the sport by developing athletes who can perform reliably at the international level. Women’s javelin gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi , 25, represents the kind of athlete the JAAF is looking for, along with first-ever World Championships 110 m hurdles finalist Shunsuke Izumiya , 23, 5th in Budapest, and 3000 m steeplechase 6th-placer Ryuji Miura , 21. All three were near the top of the world rankings going into Budapest and performed up to ability there. All of them show the "unshakability" the JAAF is pushing. All competed in Diamond League meets this seas...

On Sept. 24 the Inter-University Athletic Union of Kanto (KGRR) published a set of anti-coronavirus policies and guidelines for universities planning to compete in the Oct. 17 Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon, the qualifying race for January's Hakone Ekiden. The guidelines have sparked an outcry of protest over their harshness. The document states that if anyone involved with a team on a day-to-day basis, whether an athlete, head coach, assistant coach or anyone else, tests positive for the coronavirus in a PCR test taken on or after Sept. 26 during the three weeks prior to the race, the entire team will not be allowed to compete under any circumstances. If anyone in a team's larger circle of regular contacts test positive on or after Oct. 3, the team will likewise be barred from competing. On his personal Twitter feed, Juntendo University head coach and JAAF development committee director Kazuhiko Yamazaki  wrote about the problems with the policy, saying, "The...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012110100974 translated by Brett Larner On Nov. 1 Rikuren, the Japanese athletics federation, announced the names of the new members of its strengthening committee.  Taking over as head of men's middle distance, long distance and marathoning is Team Asahi Kasei head coach Takeshi Soh .  Team Tenmaya head coach Yutaka Taketomi  remains in place as head of the women's distance program. Koji Ito , holder of the Japanese men's 100 m national record of 10.00, was named the new head of men's sprinting, while former 400 mH national record holder and strengthening committee vice-chairman Kazuhiko Yamazaki will act as head of the committee's actualization division. In the lead-up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics the strengthening committee will be organized into three main divisions, track and field, middle, long distance and road, and actualization.  Newly-named strengthening committee director Yasuhiro Harada  will a...