japan running news

On Mar. 14 the JAAF, Fukuoka Athletics Association and Fukuoka Prefectural Government announced that the Fukuoka International Marathon, discontinued after its 75th running last year , will return in a revamped form this year on Dec. 4 under the tentative name "Fukuoka International Marathon 2022." The new version of the race will inherit the history and tradition on which the curtain came down so shockingly last December. The Fukuoka International Marathon began in Kumamoto in 1947 as the "Kanakuri Prize Asahi Marathon" in honor of the father of Japanese distance running, Shizo Kanakuri . In its early years it was held in different cities across the country, first coming to Fukuoka in 1951 and settling there for good in 1964. It took the name Fukuoka International Marathon at its 28th running in 1974, and with numerous course changes over the years continued to be held under that name. Most of the world's best runners competed there, and in the 1970s and 1980s...

Postponed from its original June dates due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the JAAF plans to reschedule the 2020 National Track and Field Championships for October 1-3 in Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium, according to a source involved in the decision. The plan is expected to be confirmed at a June 4 executive board meeting. The National Championships were originally planned to be held June 25-28 in Osaka. Initially the JAAF hoped to hold the rescheduled competition at Tokyo's New Olympic Stadium, but in their view it was determined that the virus crisis made it impossible to make the necessary preparations. This year's Nationals will not serve as a trials event for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, as World Athletics has previously announced that performances before the end of November this year will not count toward Olympic qualification. Translator's note: The JAAF  previously announced that the 10000 m National Championships, originally scheduled for May, will...

With regard to the ongoing problem of the improper use of iron injections to improve performance in long distance athletes, on May 22 JAAF director Mitsugi Ogata said that the federation is considering a plan in which following the introduction of blood testing at this year's National High School Ekiden Championships, the coaches of any athletes whose testing results indicated possible iron injection abuse would be called before a hearing to give an explanation. No penalty would be imposed. The JAAF intends to build up a database of the collected blood test results and monitor the trends in the situation. "It is important that we first get a handle on what the current situation actually is," commented Ogata. "We can then track changes and assess the effectiveness of our efforts to combat the problem." The JAAF's new guidelines prohibiting misuse of iron injections are scheduled to be released by the end of the month. When utilized as intended, the inje...

Marathon national record holder Suguru Osako (27, Nike Oregon Project), aggressively criticized the JAAF on his personal Twitter account on Apr. 23 after not being allowed to enter the National Championships without a qualifying time. Osako had sought entry to next month's National Championships 10000 m under a clause in the qualifying rules that lets the JAAF's high performance committee admit people who haven't hit the Nationals A-standard, but said his request was turned down because it might hurt other athletes' chances of qualifying for the World Championships and Olympics. He criticized the selection criteria. The same day the JAAF gave a public statement on its position, leading Osako to post a further string of tweets in response. 日本選手権、[本連盟強化委員が特に推薦する本連盟登録競技者] という枠で出場しようと試みましたが、叶いませんでした.....。 陸連強化委員からの[大迫くんが日本選手権でいい走りをするとそれに負けた選手のランキングが下がり、不平不満が出るから]という理由でした。すごい理由だな。笑笑 pic.twitter.com/VX074DzGO1 — suguru osako (@sugurusako) April 23, 2019 Osako ...

On June 15 the JAAF announced the date and course for the Marathon Grand Championship Race, or MGC Race for short, its new almost-one-shot trials race that will determine at least two of the three members of its men's and women's marathon teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The MGC Race will be held 11 months prior to the Olympics on September 15, 2019. The winners of the MGC Race will be named to the 2020 team, with either the 2nd or 3rd placer also named to the team depending on whether either has broken a fast standard, 2:05:30 for men and 2:21:00 for women. The remaining top three placer will have to wait until March, 2020 to find out whether they will be included on the team or passed over in favor of someone who clears another fast standard in one of the big six domestic elite marathons in the winter of 2019-20. The MGC Race course will closely follow the already announced Olympic course , the only key exception being a start and finish in the Jingu Gaien district ne...

Japan's selection process for marathon national teams, with a committee picking runners based on results at three, sometimes four official selection races plus previous international championships, has always been opaque and open to controversy, confusion and other words starting with the letters c and o. The selection for the 2015 Beijing World Championships women's team set off an uproar that led the JAAF to tread more carefully for Rio and London, and with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics looming they're going for a full-on one-shot trials race along the lines of the U.S. Olympic Trials that worked so successfully in Rio. The U.S. Olympic Trials approach to team selection is clear enough: run an achievable time to get into the Trials, where the first three across the finish line make up the team. That's the same basic concept for Japan's new Marathon Grand Championship trials race, the MGC Race for short, but nothing in Japan is ever so simple, straightforward and cl...

At its executive board meeting on Dec. 19, the JAAF approved date changes for three of its major marathons. Traditionally held in November, the Saitama International Women's Marathon will move to Dec. 9 for its 2018 running in response to the National Corporate Women's Ekiden's shift from mid-December to November. In 2019 the Tokyo Marathon will change from the last Sunday in February to Mar. 3 to avoid potential conflicts with the new Emperor's Birthday holiday , which will take place each year on Feb. 23 following the imperial succession in 2019. Tokyo will remain on the first Sunday of March thereafter, the longtime date of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon . As a result, in 2019 Lake Biwa will be held a week later on Mar. 10, the same day as the Nagoya Women's Marathon . source article: https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/201712190000631.html translated and edited by Brett Larner

The six members of Japan's men's and women's marathon teams at the ongoing London World Championships returned to Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Aug. 9. Decked out in the official team suit, Japanese team captain and at 9th the top-placing Japanese marathoner in London Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) spoke to the media. Having declared pre-race his intention to withdraw from consideration for future Japanese National Team positions, post-race Kawauchi showed no change in that intent. With regard to his future plans, his motivation as a competitor likewise remaining unchanged, Kawauchi indicated that he will run Decmeber's Fukuoka International Marathon,where his 3rd-place overall finish last year earned him his place in London. "In Fukuoka I want to break my PB and run 2:07," he said. "There are things I want to accomplish besides being on the National Team." Kawauchi revealed that his next marathon will be September's Oslo Marathon...

At a JAAF event at the British Embassy in Tokyo on July 21, marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (30, Saitama Pref. Gov't) was named men's captain of the Japanese national team for next month's London World Championships. Javelin throw national record holder Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) was chosen as women's captain. In a wide-ranging and impassioned speech 4 minutes and 20 seconds long, Kawauchi stoked the team's morale as he told attendees, "I think that there are athletes here today who look at London as just a checkpoint along the way to the Tokyo Olympics. But as a representative of Japan it is not enough just to be there competing. I feel it strongly. You must produce results at this event, the London World Championships. This is the task assigned to each and every one of us. It is critical that we work seriously to achieve our goals. The Japanese people want nothing less. What can we as athletes do for them? More than just wearing the uniform, each of us...

A day after the end of the 2017 Japanese National Track and Field Championships, the JAAF announced its preliminary team for August's London World Championships. No men made the team in long distance, while no women were named in any event except long distance. Top-placing athletes at the National Championships have until July 23 to chase standards in hope of being added to the team, but excluding the marathon and race walk, the team as announced on June 26: Women's Long Distance Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) - 5000 m Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 5000 m / 10000 m Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 10000 m Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) - 10000 m Men's Sprints Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 100 m / 200 m Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 100 m Aska Cambridge (Nike) - 100 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 200 m Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 400 m Additional Relay Members Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) - 4x100 m Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) - 4x100 m K...

JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko , 60, and three-time Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University head coach Susumu Hara , 50, appeared together June 7 at the JAAF's kickoff meeting for its 2020 Tokyo Olympics-centered marathon development plan. Speaking frankly, the pair caused a stir in the Japanese athletics world. Concerning Japan's biggest race Seko said, "The Hakone Ekiden is a local competition. If you have some success you're treated like you rule everything under the sun. Even athletes who haven't done anything particularly special get coverage in the media. They're quick to earn the label "God," but that is a misunderstanding. I tell you: there is no God." With the top corporate league coaches looking on he continued, "Toyota, Konica, Nissin Shokuhin, Fujitsu, they have to do better with the talented athletes they have. I'm not kidding. For real." Hara was just as sharp in his words, saying, ...

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20170330-OHT1T50055.html translated by Brett Larner Regarding the men's and women's marathon selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on Mar. 29 the JAAF announced a new selection process in which the top two Japanese men and women at a new Olympic Trials marathon to be held in the fall of 2019 or later will be named to the team.  Beginning this fall the existing set of selection races will become qualifying races, with athletes needing to clear specified times and placings in order to qualify for the Olympic Trials race.  In that way Olympic marathon team selection will become a two-stage process, a major change from the current process of comparing the results in different races and one that ensures transparency in national team selection.  The move is expected to be confirmed at next month's JAAF executive board meeting. With the Japanese marathoning world in the midst of a downtown the move is a major shakeup, the JAAF's shift i...

by Brett Larner In a livestreamed press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 17 the JAAF announced the women's and men's marathon teams for this summer's London World Championships.  With four selection races each for the three spots on the women's and men's teams the JAAF went with the best balance they could have achieved between quality and fairness. Making the grade on the women's team were Nagoya Women's Marathon 2nd and 3rd-placers Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya), all three with PBs under 2:24.  Osaka runner-up Misato Horie (Team Noritz) was named alternate. On the men's side, the team consists of Fukuoka International Marathon 3rd-placer Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Tokyo Marathon 8th-placer Hiroto Inoue (Team MHPS).  All three have brok...

by Brett Larner The press conference announcing the Japanese women's and men's teams for August's London World Championships is set for this Friday.  It's a complicated selection process with four separate domestic races each to choose the three women and three men who will represent Japan in London. Essentially, any woman who had run under 2:22:30 or man under 2:07:00 within the selection window and took the top spot at one of the selection races would be on the team. Barring that, the JAAF would consider a pool of ten for each team, the top woman at last August's Hokkaido Marathon and the top three domestic women from November's Saitama International Marathon , January's Osaka International Women's Marathon and March's Nagoya Women's Marathon , and for men the top Japanese man at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and the top three from December's Fukuoka International Marathon , February's Tokyo Marathon and March...

http://hirospo.com/quick/34808.html translated by Brett Larner On Dec. 15 the Chugoku Newspaper reported that 2:07:52 marathoner Shigeru Aburaya has been promoted from his position as assistant coach at the Chugoku Denryoku men's corporate team to head coach.  Aburaya will assume his new duties next year on Feb. 1.  After 25 years working in that role current head coach Yasushi Sakaguchi will become general manager.  In November Sakaguchi became coach of the JAAF's men's marathon development program for the buildup to the Tokyo Olympics. Translator's note: Along with his 2:07:52 best from the 2001 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Aburaya's achievements as an athlete included 5th-place finishes in the 2003 Paris World Championships and 2004 Athens Olympics marathons.  Besides Aburaya, Sakaguchi also coached 2:07:13 all-time Japanese #4 marathoner and half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato and 2:08:37 marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata , the last Japanese man ...

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.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://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S12316787.html translated by Brett Larner The JAAF has decided to take measures against the widespread use of iron injections by long distance athletes to combat anemia, saying that they undermine the athletes' bodies.  Beginning this spring it is sending documents to high school, university and corporate teams under the governance of the various local prefectural athletics associations to warn of the risks posed by iron injections, following up with a survey to help understand the scale of the actual situation.  The JAAF considers this problem central to the stagnation of distance running and marathoning, particularly with regard to women's performances. Iron injections were already conventionally known to have deleterious effects upon athletes, but because there are situations in which the injections are a legitimate medical practice they have continued to be allowed.  However, amid a sense of crisis the JAAF has opted to take a st...

http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/sports/othersports/523466/ translated by Brett Larner Marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (29, Saitama Pref. Gov't) has expressed his full withdrawal from future Olympic opportunities.  On March 27 Kawauchi won the Nerima Kobushi Half Marathon in 1:05:32.  Just a week earlier on March 20 he ran Taiwan's Wanjinshi Marathon.  He came down with food poisoning afterward but it didn't seem to impact his run in Nerima.  Kawauchi believes that he can still make a full comeback and win a medal at next year's London World Championships.  "People might think I'm well past my peak, but I'll only be 30 when the World Championships happen," he said.  On the other hand, he downplayed talk about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, preemptively raising the white flag given his history running in heat.  "Honestly, in those kinds of temperatures there's no way," he said.  "I don't want to do something where I know I can't compet...

by Brett Larner The JAAF announced the Japanese women's and men's marathon team lineups for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics at a press conference on Mar. 17 streamed live worldwide.  Surprisingly there were no surprises, no controversial calls, the athletes chosen for the team the most likely based on the complicated selection criteria. The women's team includes 2016 Osaka Women's winner Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), 2016 Nagoya Women's runner-up Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) and 2015 World Championships 7th-placer Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku).  The men's team is made up of 2015 Fukuoka 3rd-placer Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei), 2015 Lake Biwa runner-up Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa Denki) and 4th-placer Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda).  No alternates were named in the event, likely given recent history, that any of the team members does not make the starting line, and no one was named to the team from two of the selection races, last year...