japan running news

by Brett Larner The Japanese athletics team at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics came up short of scoring gold, with a final tally of four silver and three bronze medals. Tomoki Sato led the team with a pair of silvers in the men's T52 400 m and 1500 m, with another highlight coming from the bronze medal-winning men's T42-47 4x100 m relay team.  A complete breakdown of Japanese finalists in athletics at the Rio Paralympics: Rio de Janeiro Paralympics Athletics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept. 8-18, 2016 click here for complete results Women's T33/34 100 m - Sept. 10 -0.1 m/s 1. Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain) - 17.42 2. Kare Adenegan (Great Britain) - 18.29 3. Alexa Halko (U.S.A.) - 18.81 ----- 7. Haruka Kitaura (Japan) - 20.23 Men's T42 100 m - Sept. 15 -0.2 m/s 1. Scott Reardon (Australia) - 12.26 2. Daniel Wagner (Denmark) - 12.32 3. Richard Whitehead (Great Britain) - 12.32 ----- 7. Atsushi Yamamoto (Japan) - 12.84 Women's T45/46/47 100 m - ...

by Brett Larner Shut out of inclusion in the selection races for the Rio Olympics men's team the 65th running of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon was largely a developmental race, the small international field and large field of second-tier and debuting Japanese men setting out in hopes of sub-2:10 times.  #1 seed Evans Ruto (Kenya), the only athlete in the field to have broken 2:09, was an early casualty, dropping out just past 15 km as the pace accelerated from high 2:09 to low 2:08 territory.  Over a dozen were still in touch at halfway in 1:04:22, including #2 and #3-ranked Shume Hailu (Ethiopia) and Anthony Maritim (Kenya), Japanese men Naohiro Yamada (YKK), Kenichi Shiraishi (Asahi Kasei) and Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku), 22-year-old Myeung Jun Son (South Korea) and debuting Melaku Abera (Ethiopia/Kurosaki Harima), Yuki Munakata (Kanebo) and Keisuke Kusaka (Hitachi Butsuryu). Past the halfway point Kiflom Sium (Eritrea) was the next main casualty, an...

by Brett Larner Following Asian Records by Japanese athletes in both the men's 5000 m T-11 and T-12 divisions, Masahiro Okamura  became the third Japanese man at the London Paralympics to set a new Asian Record, running 2:28:51 for 4th in the men's marathon T-12.  All three of the medalists ahead of him likewise set area records, with winner Laso Suarez  (Spain) setting a world record of 2:24:50.  5000 m Asian Record holder Shinya Wada  took a distant 5th in 2:40:08, with 2004 Athens Paralympics marathon gold medalist Yuichi Takahashi  7th in 2:42:09. 2012 London Paralympics Men's Marathon T-12 Sept. 9, 2012 click here for complete results 1. Laso Suarez (Spain) - 2:24:50 -  WR 2. Moreno Serna (Colombia) - 2:26:39 - AR 3. Abderrahim Zhiou (Tunisia) - 2:26:56 - AR 4. Masahiro Okamura (Japan) - 2:28:51 - AR 5. Shinya Wada (Japan) - 2:40:08 6. Gabriel Macchi (Portugal) - 2:40:13 7. Yuichi Takahashi (Japan) - 2:42:09 8. Joaquim Machado (Port...

2012 London Paralympics Men's 5000 m - T12 London, U.K., 9/3/12 click here for complete results 1. El Amin Chentouf (Morocco) - 13:53.76 - WR 2. Abderrahim Zhiou (Tunisia) - 14:19.97 - PB 3. Henry Kirwa (Kenya) - 14:20.76 - PB 4. Gustavo Nieves (Spain) - 14:22.93 - AR 5. Tadashi Horikoshi (Japan) - 14:48.89 - AR 6. Alberto Suarez Laso (Spain) - 14:50.28 - PB 7. Nacer-Eddine Karfas (Algeria) - 15:11.41 8. Masahiro Okamura (Japan) - 15:45.98 DQ - Jose Luis Santero (Argentina)