japan running news

A set of identical triplets made the final in the Niigata Prefecture High School Championships 5000 m, their last big showdown with each other. All three talked about the way they were looking at the big race at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium. The Sato triplets all ran track and field in elementary school in Nagaoka, but when they went to junior high school they all opted to play basketball instead. Their sister, also a twin, was the manager of the track and field team at Chuetsu H.S. and gave them tips on training like hill repeats and running on undulating roads in their neighborhood, and while focusing on basketball they coached themselves to become better runners. Five years later they are now in their final year of high school. Yuto Sato runs for Chuetsu H.S., while Hiroto Sato and Oto Sato opted for Nippon Bunri H.S. . It was the first, and last, time for them to all face each other in the same race at the prefectural level. All three live in school dorms, their family...

Entry lists are out for Japan's National Championships at the end of the month in Niigata. Top three there with the standard or inside their event quota is the primary way for people who haven't yet to score places on the Paris Olympics team, and it's notable that three people with the standard, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown in the men's 100 m, Ryuji Miura in the men's 3000 mSC, and Shunsuke Izumiya in the men's 400 mH, are giving Nationals a miss. One effect of their absence is that it improves the chances that other people are going to make the Paris quota on points, especially in the 100 m and steeple where Sani Brown and Miura are the only ones with the standard and likely to still be that way post-Nationals. Whether that's intentional only they can say, but it's interesting that one outcome of the World Athletics world rankings system is that in a way it encourages top talent to skip their National Championships to help out their teammates. But the mos...

Opposite the Hangzhou Asian Games and World Road Running Championships, the Continental Tour Bronze Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup meet took place this weekend in Niigata. The highlight on Saturday came in its last race, the men’s 5000 m A-heat, where 20-year-old Shunsuke Yoshii , a 2nd-year at Hakone Ekiden runner-up Chuo University , ran 13:22.01 for the win after getting quality pacing almost the entire way from pacer Amos Bett (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.). Chuo 4th-year Shota Nakano was 2nd in 13:28.04 and Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) 3rd in 13:29.12. Combined with their older brothers Yamato Yoshii and Kazuki Tamura , Yoshii and Tamura now stand as the fastest and 3rd-fastest brothers over 5000 m in Japanese history. Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) handled pacing work in the women’s 5000 m, where Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was the last one left standing at Akidor’s pace with a 15:36.47 for the win. 2nd-placer Yuna Takahashi ran 15:42.37, with 3rd and 4th-place Mikun...

After four years away, the Niigata City Marathon returned to the streets of downtown Niigata on Sunday. Early the morning of the 9th marathoners lined up in front of Denka Big Swan Stadium for the first time since 2018, with the 2019 race having been canceled because of a typhoon and the 2020 and 2021 races not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between the marathon, 10 km fun run and universal run in which participants could run whatever distance they wanted, 7000 people took part. With Sydney Olympics marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi there to cheer them on, runners of all ability shared their joy together at being back together after 4 years away. Shusei Ohashi won the men's race in 2:18:22, Yuka Seki taking 1st in the women's race in 2:54:58. source article: https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/bsn/174368?display=1 translated and edited by Brett Larner

Postponed from early summer, this year's 104th National Track and Field Championships have been sliced and diced into different segments held over the course of four months this summer in an effort to minimize the number of people in one place and one time and, in the case of long distance, to wait until World Athletics' window for turning out Olympic qualifying marks opens up in December. Sprints, middle distance, hurdles, jumps and throws happen this week Thursday through Saturday at Niigata's enormous Denka Big Swan Stadium. 24 events are set to have their defending champs back, with Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko), #2 worldwide in the men's high jump this year, Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) #3 worldwide in the men's long jump, leading the way. The men's 100 m looking especially good despite the absence of U.S.-based national record older Abdul Hakim Sani Brown . Aska Cambridge (Nike) has been in his best shape ever so far this fall with a 10.03 PB last mo...

Thank you for your continued support of the development of Japanese university athletics. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Inter-Union Athletics Union of Japan (IUAU) is announcing that this year's 89th National University Track and Field Championships , scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium, will not be open to spectators from the general public. As the organizers we are deeply concerned by the resurgent nationwide spread of the virus since July, and as a consequence of those circumstances we have arrived at the conclusion that the meet must be held in a closed environment. We regret that this will disappoint and cause inconvenience for all those involved, including team members, alumni and alumnae, and family members who had planned to attend in support of their athletes, but this measure is necessary in order for the meet to take place at all under the current social situation and we ask for your understanding and cooperat...

Scheduled for Nov. 8, the 2020 Okayama Marathon has been canceled due to the coronavirus crisis. We carefully considered whether we could safely hold a race that brings together 16,400 runners from across the country and determined that it would not be possible to complete eliminate the risk of infection to the runners, staff, volunteers, and spectators along the road. It is very disappointing to have to convey this news to everyone who had been looking forward to our race, runners, citizens of Okayama prefecture, our supporters across the country, sponsors, partner organizations and everyone else involved with our event, but we thank you and ask for your understanding. We will work to improve the Okayama Marathon so that we can make it an even better and more enjoyable event the next time we are able to put it on. Thank you all. Okayama Marathon Organizing Committee Translator's note: Along with Okayama, the Oct. 11 Niigata City Marathon with 6,784 finishers last year, an...