japan running news

Early season injuries might have kept him home from Budapest, but Rachid Muratake (Juntendo University) showed he's more than just back with the performance of the meet on day 3 of the National University Track and Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama. After leading the men's 110 mH heats with a conservative 13.52 (+1.5) and the semifinals with an even more conservative 13.71 (-1.0), Muratake blazed a 13.04 (-0.9) to win the final. That took 0.25 off former Juntendo teammate Shunsuke Izumiya 's meet record, 0.02 off Izumiya's collegiate record, and tied the national record Izumiya set earlier this year as a pro. It also put Muratake alongside Izumiya in the top 10 worldwide this year, no small feat while still in college. 2nd-placer Ryota Machi (Kokusai Budo Univ.) was a distant afterthought at 13.72. In the men's hammer throw Shota Fukuda (Nihon Univ.) did the nearly impossible, breaking the great Koji Murofushi 's 1996 meet record 71.84 m with a 5th-ro...

Japan more than doubled its medal count on the fifth day of athletics competition at the Chengdu World University Games . Juntendo University's Haruki Manju got things started in the morning session with a bronze medal in the men's 20 kmRW in 1:25:32. That was almost 2 minutes behind winner Salih Korkmaz of Turkey, but together with teammates Kazuhiro Tateiwa , 5th in 1:26:40, and Kento Yoshikawa , 8th in 1:29:06, it was enough to score the Japanese men the team silver behind China. The next medal came 13 hours later in the women's 5000 m. In a close race that came down to a three-way battle over the last lap Portugal's Mariana Machado Carvalho won gold in 16:02.58 over China's Yuyu Xia. Doubling from the 10000 m, Nittai University's Risa Yamazaki  lost ground to the top 2 but leaned in for bronze in a photo finish with fast-closing Norwegian Amalie Saeten , 16:08.86 to 16:08.90. Ritsumeikan University's Tomo Muramatsu struggled, running only 16:51.22 f...