japan running news

Following the success of the Marathon Grand Championship single-race Olympic marathon trials, in which the top finishers in the trials race earned spots on the Olympic team, the JAAF will again use the MGC format for deciding the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon teams. At an Apr. 17 JAAF board meeting done via video conferencing, executive Mitsugi Ogata said, "We will keep the same basic format in order to choose the Olympic team with transparency and fairness, with a multi-year qualifying period from 2021 to 2023. We will consider the exact mechanics of the process, for example whether the trials race should determine one or two people for the team. This time it was for a home-soil Olympics, so I think it will be difficult to do it exactly the same way next time." Up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the results of a number of designated qualifying race in the season leading up to the Olympics were considered in choosing Olympic team members, but for the Tokyo Olympics...

Following the announcement of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021, the athletes already named to the women's and men's marathon teams are expected to retain their positions as national representatives at the Olympics. A day after the Olympic announcement, JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko confirmed that the project team is thinking in that direction. "I want to protect the rights of the six athletes already on the team," he said. "Their places on the team are something they earned themselves through a three-year process. We do not intend to take that away. This morning one of their coaches called me and asked, 'What's going to happen to my athlete?' All of them are worried that their places on the Olympic team will be annulled. I can tell them that thanks to the MGC process we have confidence in them as our national representatives. The final word, however, is that of the JAAF board of directors." Oth...

With regard to the issue of decathlon Asian Champion Keisuke Ushiro (33, Kokushikan Club) having been denied entry into the World Championships by the IAAF just before the Championships' start after having been told he would be on the Japanese team nearly three months earlier by the JAAF, at its current executive board meeting the JAAF established that in the future it will include the original text of the IAAF's qualification procedures along with the Japanese translation it makes available to Japanese athletes. JAAF chair Kazunori Asaba commented, "We want to improve our system so that athletes, coaches and managers can better understand the selection process." source article: https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191011-00000090-spnannex-spo translated by Brett Larner

At one point "misselected" by the JAAF to represent Japan at the World Championships beginning Sept. 27 in Doha, Qatar, Asian decathlon champion Keisuke Ushiro (33, Kokushikan Club) has been allowed to compete. The JAAF made the announcement on Sept. 20 that Ushiro was one of five athletes being added to Japan's roster. On his Twitter account Ushiro wrote, "I'm sorry to have made so many people worry about this, but I'm happy to say that today I got word that I'll be able to go to the World Championships. I'll do everything I can to be ready so I can get as close as I can to realizing my dream of medaling. Thank you all for your support." As the 2019 Asian Championships gold medalist and 2019 national champion, the JAAF announced Ushiro as a member of the Doha team in June. But on Sept. 17 the IAAF informed the JAAF that Ushiro would not be allowed to compete due to not having cleared the qualification standard. The situation forced JAAF e...

At a Tokyo-area press conference on Sept 18, JAAF executive Kazunori Asaba explained the circumstances surrounding decathlon champion Keisuke Ushiro (Kokushikan Club) having his place on the Doha World Championships team cut . Ushiro had not cleared the World Championships qualification standard of 8200 points, but in April he won the gold medal at the Asian Championships. It was assumed that as area champion he would be qualified to participate in the World Championships, and when he won June's National Championships the JAAF told him he would be on the Worlds team. Regarding the area champion's qualification for the World Championships, the IAAF states, "Area champions in individual events held at the World Championships automatically qualify regardless of whether they have achieved the qualification standard. This is not applicable to the 10000 m, 3000 m steeplechase, combined events, field events or road events, in which their participation subject to the approva...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160928-00000102-nksports-spo http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160928-00000138-jij-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner At a board of directors meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 28, the JAAF named Koji Ito (46), holder of the 10.00 Japanese 100 m national record, its new strengthening committee chairman.  Ito was already serving as the committee's vice-chairman.   He replaces Rio de Olympics athletics head coach Kazunori Asaba (56) in the role of the person who will lead the committee in the four-year buildup to the Tokyo Olympics.  Ito commented, "As someone in athletics I wanted to be involved in the Tokyo Olympics in one capacity or another.  There won't be any instant improvement, but as we move forward I want to listen to the opinions of a wide variety of people." The board additionally settled the dates for major 2017 domestic competitions.  The Japanese National Championships will take place June 23-25 at Osaka'...

http://www.sanspo.com/rio2016/news/20160823/rio16082305020030-n1.html translated and edited by Brett Larner In the Aug. 21 men's marathon on the final day of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics the Japanese men suffered a crushing defeat.   Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) was the top Japanese man at 16th overall, while Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa Denki) was 94th, falling below even Kenjiro Jitsui 's 93rd-place finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.  JAAF director of men's marathoning Takeshi Soh, 63, held his head in his hands as he said, "I guess maybe all we can do is try to get our fastest runners to come to the marathon and then build up their stamina."  But with the heavy emphasis placed on running ekidens wearing sponsor company logos, training and development are left up to each individual team.  Lamenting the way they are mired in lasting, deep-rooted tradition, Soh said, "At the present time we just can't seem to do that. We need the JAAF, th...

http://www.nikkansports.com/olympic/rio2016/athletics/news/1698472.html translated by Brett Larner In the Rio de Janeiro Olympics men's marathon on Aug. 21 , Satoru Sasaki (30) was the top Japanese man at 16th in 2:13:57.   Suehiro Ishikawa (36) was 36th, with Hisanori Kitajima (31) placing 94th. At the end of athletics competition Japan's total was two medals and two top eight finishes, a total exceeding the JAAF's target one medal but falling short of its goal of five top eight finishes.  JAAF strengthening committee chairman Kazunori Asaba (55) announced that he intends to resign his position following the Rio Olympics.  Strengthening committee vice-chairman Katsumi Sakai (56) and director of men's marathoning Takeshi Soh (63) are also expected to join the exodus of resignations.  Japanese athletics will be forced to make a fresh start before the Tokyo Olympics.

http://www.nikkansports.com/olympic/rio2016/athletics/news/1679300.html translated by Brett Larner On July 15 JAAF Development Committee Chariman Kazunori Asaba announced that the JAAF's target for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics is "one medal and five top eight finishes."  The JAAF expects "at least one medal" from among the men's 4x100 m relay, 20 km race walk, 50 km race walk and women's marathon.  He cited the women's 10000 m and other events as possibilities for top eight placers.  In response to questions from reporters about why the goals were so modest Asaba answered uncomfortably, "Well, we're talking about the Olympics.  This is a realistic assessment." Pole vault national record holder Daichi Sawano (Team Fujitsu) was named captain of the men's team, with javelin throw national record holder Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) named women's captain.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2016052400852&g=spo translated by Brett Larner At a Tokyo-area press conference on May 24 the JAAF announced the selection criteria for the marathon teams for the August, 2017 London World Championships.  The new selection criteria represent a significant change from past policies in which athletes' positions on Olympic and World Championships teams have not been guaranteed until after the completion of the final selection race.  Under the new policy, an athlete who breaks the JAAF's pre-determined selection standard time and finishes as the top Japanese at one of the selection races will be guaranteed a place on the team. The selection standards are 2:07:00 for men and 2:22:30 for women, times that correspond to a 7th-place world ranking in recent results.  Times run in domestic or international races will be counted during a period of time beginning in January this year.  Any athlete with the time standard who takes the to...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160301-00000065-dal-spo translated by Brett Larner On Mar. 1, the organizers of the Nagoya Women's Marathon, the final selection race for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics team, announced general division entrant Kayoko Fukushi (33, Team Wacoal) has withdrawn from the race, saying, "This was the overall judgment after case studies done by team management." Fukushi won January's Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2:22:17, clearing the JAAF's Olympic standard of 2:22:30.  Her position on the Rio team was virtually assured, but because the JAAF refused to confirm it she entered the final selection race in Nagoya. An unheard-of unwilling entry of a top-level prospective Olympian into a race, subsequent events like JAAF Strengthening Chairman Kazunori Asaba 's unusual statement, "We do not want her to run. We want to see her do rock-solid preparation for going after a medal," caused a swelling uproar in popu...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1607599.html translated by Brett Larner With regard to her entry in the final Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon selection race, the Mar. 13 Nagoya Women's Marathon, on Feb. 21 JAAF Strengthening Committee Chairman Kazunori Asaba , 55, sent a message to Kayoko Fukushi (33, Team Wacoal): "We do not want you to run." Fukushi won the second Rio selection race, January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, in 2:22:17, one of the fastest times ever run by a Japanese woman, but because the JAAF would not confirm her spot on the Rio team, the next day she indicated that she would run Nagoya as well.  Chairman Asaba seeks to persuade Fukushi that if she hopes to contend for an Olympic medal she should not run Nagoya, but at the same time refuses to change the JAAF's stance that it will not confirm that she is definitely on the Rio team. Attending the 20 km racewalk national championships in Kobe, C...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1546509.html translated by Brett Larner At a meeting of its board of directors Sept. 30 in Tokyo, the JAAF made the decision to establish a new Strengthening Promotion Committee.  The new committee will have authority over the existing Strengthening Committee.  JAAF executive director Mitsugi Ogata , 56, commented, "Up to now our strengthening activities have focused on producing the best performances at a particular time, but from now on we want to consider strategy through a variety of eyes and minds." Citing the Japanese performance at August's Beijing World Championships, where the national team's total of one bronze medal and two top eight performances fell far short of JAAF projections, the board approved the resignation of Strengthening Committee chairman Yasuhiro Harada .  The promotion of vice-chairman Kazunori Asaba was also approved pending the outcome of committee restructuring.  Along with Toshihik...