japan running news

Even more than in Osaka , top-level Japanese athletes turned out in big numbers for the 83rd Tokyo Track and Field Championships , stretched out over a leisurely four-day schedule this weekend at Komazawa Stadium. Despite terrible weather conditions throughout the long weekend they brought new meet records in eighteen events, breaking some records that had stood for over 50 years. All three men's sprints saw new meet records. 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics men's 4x100 m relay silver medalist Aska Cambridge (Nike) ran a meet record 10.29 (+0.3) to win his 100 m opening heat, improved that to 10.26 (-0.3) to take his semifinal, then took the record further again with a 10.22 (-0.8) win in the final. Keigo Yasuda (Daito Bunka Univ.) tied the men's 200 m meet record at 20.97 (-1.0) to win the final. Daichi Inoue (Nihon Univ.) ran 46.81 to break the previous men's 400 m meet record of 47.05, set in 1996 before he was born. Men's middle distance also had new meet r...

Following up the Ritsumeikan University women's 4x100 m meet record in the qualifying heats on the first day of the 87th National University Track and Field Championships , Nittai University did Ritsumeikan one better in day two's final. Nittai came on strong on the third leg with a solid run from third year Mae Hirosawa , but it was first-year anchor Miku Yamada who really impressed, pulling away to open almost half a second on Ritsumeikan in the best first-year relay anchor performance since future Olympic silver medalist  Shota Iizuka 's 2010 Kanto Regionals run. Yamada crossed the line in 44.59 to take 0.23 off Ritsumeikan's day-old meet record and 0.21 off the 12-year-old national university record. Just a week after missing out on a medal at the Jakarta Asian Games, Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) rounded out her collegiate heptathlon career by tying the meet record of 5550 set last year by Jakarta bronze medalist Yuki Yamasaki . Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Mei...

Japan's Yuki Koike and Seito Yamamoto took home gold to lead the country's best daily medal total so far in athletics competition at the Jakarta Asian Games . Head-to-head with Taiwanese national record holder Chun-Han Yang the entire way through the men's 200 m, Yang leading off the curve, Koike overtaking him in the straight, Yang fighting back, both men falling across the line, Koike won in the performance of the day in a PB of 20.23 (+0.7 m/s). Yang broke his own national record by 0.10 for silver, also clocking at 20.23 but on review coming through 0.002 behind Koike. Bahraini Yaqoob Yaqoob was a distant afterthought in 20.55 for bronze, with Japanese national champ Shota Iizuka off form at 6th in 20.68. Just 23, Koike joins the A-list of Japanese sprinting just two years out from the Tokyo Olympics, while Yang's continued progression confirms his potential as an international competitor. 6th in the men's pole vault at last year's London World Cha...

Not the man Japanese announcers expected to see on the podium, Shunya Takayama delivered Japan's only medal on day four of the Jakarta Asian Games , outrunning national record holder Taio Kanai for bronze in the men's 110 m hurdles. The entire focus of the Japanese coverage was on Kanai, but from the start he was out of form, ultimately finishing only 7th in 13.74. Takayama fought his way up from 4th, leaning so far at the line to overtake Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Khader Almuwallad for the medal that he fell. Wenjun Xie of China took the gold in 13.34 with Kueiru Chen of Taiwan running a PB of 13.39 for silver. National record holder Sho Kawamoto was also out of form in the men's 800 m, 7th in a disappointing 1:50.87. Yume Kitamura and Ayano Shiomi came closer in the women's 800 m but were still out of the medals at 4th and 5th. Likewise in the women's 5000 m, where Rina Nabeshima and Minami Yamanouchi took 4th and 6th, and the women's javelin thro...

Toshikazu Yamanishi delivered Japan its first gold medal of the Taipei 2017 Summer  Universiade, covering the men's 20 km race walk in 1:27:30 to win by 50 seconds over Mexico's Julio Salazar Enriquez . Fumitaka Oikaw a took bronze in 1:30:11 to follow up on Japan's silver and bronze pair at the London World Championships and further establish Japan's position among the leaders of the sport. Third Japanese man Tomohiro Noda was 7th, bettering Mexico on team scoring. Japan's other finalists of the day couldn't match the walkers' performances, Jun Yamashita taking 8th in the men's 200 m final and Kenji Ogura 9th in the men's javelin throw final. Both men in the 110 m hurdles made it to the semifinals, however, Taio Kanai winning Heat Three and Shusei Nomoto 2nd in Heat Two. Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade Day Four Japanese Results Taipei, Taiwan, 8/26/17 click here for complete results Men's 200 m Final   (-3.8 m/s) 1. Jeffrey John...

With a roster somewhat depleted of top-level talent Japan took no gold but managed to pick up five silver and nine bronze medals at the July 6-9  Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, India. Japanese women scored the majority of the medals, taking three silver and eight bronze medals to the men's count of two silver, one bronze. Women's 10000 m national champion Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) and men's 110 m hurdles national champ Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) were the only athletes already named to Japan's London World Championships team to participate. Matsuda took the bronze medal in the 10000 m behind Daria Maslova (Kyrghizstan) and national championships 5th-placer Yuka Hori (Japan), while Takayama missed out on bronze by 0.04 seconds as he took 4th in 13.65 (-0.6 m/s). With none of the Japanese medalists clearing London standards at the Asian Athletics Championships there were no additions beyond Matsuda and Takayama to the London team from among those wh...

5/28 ハーフマラソン 2部 36着 親﨑達朗(駿河台大学) 1:08:37 #関東インカレ pic.twitter.com/oQiGYbmYnH — ミウツー (@miu2_tsc) May 29, 2017 Japan's best meet of the season wrapped up Sunday at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium. Day four of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships with the men's half marathon, its two divisions running with a staggered start over a circuit course starting and ending inside the stadium. D1 runner-up in the 10000 m Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) took a second-straight title in the D1 race, bettering his winning time from last year by almost two minutes to win in 1:03:22. Back from setting a D2 10000 m meet record of 28:00.66 on Thursday, Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) set another D2 meet record as he outran Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University's Yuta Shimoda to win in 1:02:38. #関東インカレ 男子5000m パトリック ワンブィ(日大)13:43.97 pic.twitter.com/xmJ0Y6xrIm — Tさんrunner (@Runner_2653) May 29, 2017 Like the 10000m and half marathon, in...

by Brett Larner click here for part one After a meet record in the men's 10000 m race walk earlier in weekend, the second half of the 71st National Sports Festival saw two more race walk meet records.  In the senior women's 5000 mRW, Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) broke the record set 21 years ago with a new mark of 21:24.94 to win by almost a minute.  The junior men's 5000 mRW was closer, with Masatora Kawano (Gotemba Minami H.S.) pushing Ryutaro Yamamoto (Toyama Shogyo H.S.) to break his own record.  Yamamoto bettered his 2015 record by 12 seconds in 19:56.66, Kawano also coming in under Kawano's old mark in 20:02.38. In the junior men's 3000 m, 9th-grader  Hiroto Hayashida (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) bettered his high school competition to win in a new junior high school national record of 8:19.14.  No records were set in the junior women's 3000 m, but Kenyan Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) delivered one of the fastest performances in National Sports Festiv...

by Brett Larner videos by Ekiden News  and no1231y Rio Olympics 4x100 m silver medalist Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) was the hardest-working man in Japan this weekend, running nine races in three days and winning three of his four finals at the 85th National University Track and Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama.  Kiryu started off his haul with a meet record 10.08 (+1.1 m/s) to win the 100 m final, following up with a 20.60 (-0.1 m/s) in the 200 m.  Running anchor in the men's 4x100 m, Kiryu made a rare flub, blowing his exchange and dropping Toyo to last in 48.71, showing that the baton work that earned Japan worldwide praise in its silver medal run in Rio isn't always easy and takes hard work to get right.   Cbuo University made it four-straight National titles, winning in 38.92. Coming back from the 4x100 m embarrassment, with his Rio teammate Julian Walsh , who won the National University 400 m final with ease in 45.93, running anchor, Kiryu m...

by Brett Larner The Tokyo area’s best springtime meet, the 95th edition of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships run this Thursday through Sunday, banished again by the poorly-conceived demolition of the beloved 1964 Olympic Stadium to Nissan Stadium in the remote wildlands of suburban Yokohama. Kanto being the home of the Hakone Ekiden the men’s distance events make up most of the most exciting action, but there are other highlights on the entry list. It’s hard to believe sprint wunderkind Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) is already in his junior year, but with the Olympics looking he still soldiers on in hopes of scoring Japan’s first legit sub-10 in the 100 m. He is entered in both the 100 m and the 4x100 m, giving the 200 m a miss with bigger things at stake in the next few months. National high school record holder Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) is the favorite in the women’s heptathlon, still well shy of the Rio standard of 6200 with a best of 5730 but still...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/08/03/kiji/K20140803008678270.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/inter-high/2014/news/p-sp-tp0-20140804-1345415.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/08/04/kiji/K20140804008685700.html translated and edited by Brett Larner photos by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu There's a new candidate for the heroine of Tokyo 2020.  At this past weekend's National High School Track and Field Championships at Kofu's Kose Sports Park Field, the daughter of an American father Meg Hemphill (18, Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) set a women's heptathlon junior national record of 5519 points to win her second-straight title.  Between the heptathlon's sixth and seventh events, the javelin throw and 800 m, the "Iron Girl" Hemphill also anchored her school's 4x400 m relay team, showing exactly how tough she was and setting her well on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At this year's National High School Championships Hemphil...

by Brett Larner photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu After setting a girls' heptathlon junior national record over the last two days, Meg Hemphill (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) returned with another big day to wrap up the 2014 Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships.  Dominating the heats and semi-finals of the 100 m hurdles, Hemphill ran 13.72 (-0.9) to win the final by 0.11 over Sayaka Kobayashi (Anjo Gakuen H.S.).  Doubling in the 4x400 m relay, she anchored Kyoto Bunkyo 's team to a 3rd-place finish in 3:44.62, a long way behind winner Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. in 3:39.17 but just 0.03 out of 2nd behind Soyo H.S.   Taking all of her achievements at this year's Championships together Hemphill looks set to be one of Japan's big new names on the track. Boys' 400 m hurdles champion Takumu Furuya (Soyo H.S.) likewise showed good range.  After winning the 400 mH title on Friday, Furuya returned to take the 110 m hurdles title in 14.05 running into a -...

by Brett Larner photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu video by Ekiden News After two meet records yesterday, the fourth day of this year's National High School Track and Field Championships saw the meet's first national record.  Rising star Meg Hemphill (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) built up a steady lead over the two days of the women's heptathlon, and with 4666 points and only the 800 m left she needed to run just 2:26.14 to break both the high school and junior national records.  Instead of settling for an easy record she went out full-effort, running 2:17.87 to total 5519 and breaking not just the meet record and the two national records but landing at all-time #8 in the Japanese record books.  A relative newcomer, she looks set to be one of the more interesting Japanese track and field athletes in the next few years. Hemphill brought the performance of the day, but there were other quality results.  Winning the 400 m national title on the first day of the meet and coming b...