japan running news

Day 4 of the National Sports Festival in Shiga saw more records fall. In the junior men's 110 m hurdles , Jeremiah Koga (Tokyo H.S.) ran a stellar 13.07 (+0.7) U20 NR, high school record and meet record for the win. Koga bettered current NR holder Rachid Muratake 's U20 NR by 0.21, making his prospects in the event look pretty exciting. And it wasn't just him. In 2nd, Koki Takajo (Miyazaki Nishi H.S.) ran an U18 NR of 13.17. Muratake breaking 13 this season was a big step for the event in Japan, and it looks like there's more talent ready to follow him. It's a bit more of a fringe event, but the junior women's 300 mH also saw a new U18 NR. Winner Rachel Mayu Gardener (Hosei Daini H.S.) won in 41.11, and right behind her Yuna Kusuda (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) came through in 41.27 to set a new U18 NR. And again, it wasn't just her. 3rd-placer Makoto Saka (Saku Chosei H.S.) also went under the old U18 record, clocking 41.44. The other big event of the day sa...

The Tokyo World Athletics Championships have come and gone, and Japan pretty much performed as expected from an organizational standpoint. Things were smooth, efficient and polite, the Tokyo Olympics stadium was packed at every session, and things like all the teams being housed in one hotel and the warmup track being driving distance from the main stadium that would have caused major logistical problems most other places went without many hitches. Even where cost-cutting measures were evident, like the absence of the light shows for walk-ons in the premier track events, nobody really seemed to care. The atmosphere might not have been as much fun as Budapest two years ago, but it was still miles ahead of other recent World Championships. Budapest was a record-setting team performance for Japanese athletes , with one gold medal, one bronze, and a total of 11 top-8 placings. Although there was a lot of disappointment for the home crowd this time, the actual team results in Tokyo were al...

Day 4 of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships had a relatively small number of Japanese athletes in action, but it was highlighted by another great run in the men's 400 m from new NR holder Yuki Joseph Nakajima . 800 m NR holder Ko Ochiai , who made Worlds on a host country slot, bowed out in the first round with a 1:46.78 for 7th in Heat 5, putting him at 45th of 63 finishers overall. Neither member of the women's triple jump squad advanced either, Maoko Takashima 13th in qualification group A at 13.86 m (-0.3) and Mariko Morimoto 17th in group B and last overall at 13.10 m (+0.5). Ryoichi Akamatsu added to Japan's top 8 placing count, taking 8th in the men's high jump final at 2.24 m. Yuto Seko was 10th, clearing only 2.20 m after having hit the 2.33 m qualifying standard in late August. Olympic champ Hamish Kerr of New Zealand won a great duel against Korean Sanghyeok Woo , 2.36 m to 2.34 m. Czech Jan Stefela won bronze at 2.31 m. In the men's 110 m hur...

No new medals for the host country on the 2nd day of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships , but there still some good performances across the day including a massive NR in the men's 400 m. The least experienced member of the women's marathon squad, Kana Kobayashi took the early lead in the women's marathon, dropping as far back as 12th mid-race but clawing her way back into the top 8 on the hills at the end with a 2:28:50 for 7th. Sayaka Sato was off the back from the start but eventually ran down Yuka Ando for 2nd Japanese in 2:31:15 for 13th. Ando was 28th in 2:35:37. Peres Jepchirhir took gold in a track sprint against Tigist Assefa , 2:24:43 to 2:24:45, with Uruguay's Julia Paternain a distant 3rd in 2:27:23. Next up, Asian champion Kazuto Iizawa didn't make it out of the first round heats in the men's 1500 m, taking 13th in Heat 1 in 3:41.76. In the women's 100 m hurdles heats 2 of the 3 Japanese woman advanced to the semifinals on time, Mako F...

The Sept. 28-29 Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup Continental Tour Bronze meet in Niigata announced its preliminary field on Wednesday. A lot of the international field has yet to be added, but what's been announced includes Paris Olympians Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuichiro Sakai , Kentaro Sato , Fuga Sato , Joseph Nakajima , Abraham Guem , Tomoki Ota , Rachid Muratake , Daiki Ogawa , Ryoichi Akamatsu , Tomohiro Shinno , Yume Goto , Wakana Kabasawa , Haruki Kokai , Sumire Hata , Marina Saito and Momone Ueda , NR holders Shuhei Tada , Ko Ochiai , Sho Kawamoto , Keita Sato , Naoto Tobe , Yuji Tsutumi , Ryoji Tatezawa , Kanta Shimizu , Kotaro Shinohara , Rin Kubo , Tomoka Kimura and Nanaka Kori , Monaco Diamond League winner Margaret Akidor , and more. Current list top entries by 2023-2024 best in each event: Men's 100 m Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 10.03 Ryuichiro Sakai (Osaka Gas) - 10.08 Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 Naoki Nishioka (Tokai Gyosei H.S.) - 10.11 Yuki Koike (...

We've been busy the last few days working with the Mongolian marathon team at the Paris Olympics. Catching up on the Japanese national team's performances over the last 3 days of athletics competition, the big news was of course world champion Haruka Kitaguchi scoring Japan's first and only medal in Paris, gold in the javelin on her first throw. In the final evening session on Saturday Kitaguchi came out swinging with a season best 65.80 m first throw that left the rest of the field fighting for silver. South African Jo-Ane Van Dyk came closest to Kitaguchi's mark at 63.93 m, just holding off Czech Nikola Ogrodnikova for silver by 25 cm. Japan's other javelin finalist Momone Ueda was 10th with a season best 61.64 m throw. Kitaguchi's gold was the first-ever for a female Japanese athlete in the javelin throw and the first by any Japanese athlete since Mizuki Noguchi in the Athens Olympics marathon. Kitaguchi was seriously burned by the JAAF's massive 90%...

Day 7 of athletics at the Paris Olympics kicked off with one of Japan's few chances at a medal, the marathon race walk mixed relay. Masatora Kawano took it out hard, leading early with honorary Japanese team member Evan Dunfee of Canada and staying with the pack once caught. 20 km NR holder Kumiko Okada took over for the 2nd half of the race but soon lost touch and drifted back to her final finishing position of 8th in 2:55:40, just over 4 minutes behind bronze medalists Australia . Spain took gold in 2:50:31, with Ecuador beating Australia by 16 seconds for silver in 2:51:22. Japan's B-team of Kazuki Takahashi and Ayane Yanai was 13th in 2:58:08. 8th place for the A-team was far off a medal, but as another top 8 finish to go with those in the men's 20 km race walk it clicks a box in the JAAF's metrics for success at this Olympics.  Japan's best chance at an individual medal, 2023 world champion Haruka Kitaguchi led off with a 62.58 m throw that put her ov...

  Off and on rain throughout the day, sometimes heavy, impacted a lot of events on the last day of Japan's National Track and Field Championships , U20 National Championships, and Olympic trials, but at least 6 of the 12 finals saw people seal up places at the Paris Olympics, and one saw a new youth record by its winner. Complete results here . Men's 100 m Final   -0.2 m/s Fastest in the semifinals, Ryuichiro Sakai  did it again in the final to add the 2024 national title to his 2023 win in 10.13 (-0.2). Akihiro Higashida  and Hiroki Yanagita  went a close 2-3 in 10.14, both of them pretty much guaranteeing that they'll be on the Paris team with Abdul Hakim Sani Brown , who sat Nationals out after running the Olympic standard earlier this season. Former NR holder Yoshihide Kiryu  took 5th in 10.20 and will only have a shot at being in Paris as a relay alternate. 1. Ryuichiro Sakai (Osaka Gas) - 10.13 2. Akihiro Higashida (Sekisho) - 10.14 3. Hiroki Yanagita...

Japan's Olympic trials, National Track and Field Championships and National U20 Championships , wrap up Sunday in Niigata at Denka Big Swan Stadium. Light rain is forecast in the afternoon and evening, ut with 7 new National Championships meet records and an U20 national record so far, there's a good chance of one outright national record, maybe two, on the last day of the meet.  Live results will be here . The final schedule: Women's Shot Put Final  14:45 Already having made a comeback in her main event with a win in the women's discus throw, local  Nanaka Kori  will be going for a repeat on her 2023 national title in the shot put. She's the only woman over 16 m this season, and one of only two in the field to have ever done it, along with #3-ranked Fumiko Ono . Nanaka Kori (Niigata Albirex RC) - 16.19 m SB / 16.57 m PB Honoka Oyama (Imamura Byoin) - 15.75 m SB / 15.78 m PB Fumika Ono (Tsukuba Univ.) - 15.74 m SB / 16.37 m PB Haruka Osako (Somay-Q) - 15.28 m SB / P...

The Asian Indoor Athletics Championships took place Feb. 17-19 in Tehran, Iran, women's events happening in morning sessions and men's in evening sessions without overlap. The small Japanese team of 14 took four gold medals, four silvers, and one bronze. Asuka Terada got things rolling for the small Japanese team with a silver in the women's 60 mH, running 8.18 to win her heat and then 8.21 in the final behind Indian gold medalist Jyothi Yarraji 's 8.12. China's Zhang Mingkun fouled on 4 of his 6 attempts in the men's, but his 5th attempt of 7.97 m was enough for gold. Japan's Yuto Toriumi and Daiki Oda took silver and bronze at 7.89 m and 7.76 m. Nanako Matsumoto won the women's 400 m final in 55.14 over Iranians Nazanin Fatemeh Eidan and Kazan Rostami , with Haruna Kuboyama 4th in 56.28 almost a second behind Rostami. Yuma Yamamoto had a dominant run for gold in the women's 3000 m, running 9:16.71 to win by almost 10 seconds over India...

Women's pole vault national record holder Misaki Morota kicked off the evening session on the fourth day of athletics competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games with a new NR and a silver medal. Morota cleared every height from 3.80 m to 4.40 m on her first attempt, then did it again at 4.48 m, 7 cm over her old record. China's Ling Li and Chung Niu only jumped once each, both clearing 4.30 m on their first attempts, leaving all three women to go for 4.53 m. Li made it on her first attempt, but both Morota and Niu failed, leaving Li in gold, Morota in silver and Niu in the bronze position. Li went on from there to make it over 4.63 m, breaking her own Games record by 3 cm. In the men's 200 m final, Koki Ueyama took the final in 20.60 (-0.2), beating Saudi Abdullah Akbar Mohammed by 0.03 to win Japan's first athletics gold medal in Hangzhou. Chun-Han Yang of Taiwan edged out veteran Femi Ogunode of Qatar for bronze, 20.74 to 20.75. A few minutes later Shunya Takayama...

After missing the final in Oregon last year 3000 m steeplechase national record holder Ryuji Miura built on his 7th-place 2021 Olympic debut with a 6th-place finish at the Budapest World Championships. Miura started slow and moved up throughout the race, getting as high as 5th when ahead of him a fall on the first obstacle after the bell brought bronze into tantalizingly close range. But he couldn't quite close it, and just steps before the finish he was run down by New Zealand's George Beamish , dropping to 6th in 8:13.70 with Beamish 5th in 8:13.46. Ryoma Aoki , who beat Miura to the punch as the first Japanese man to qualify for a World Championships 3000 mSC final in 20 years, was 14th in 8:24.77. Olympic and defending World champion Soufiane El Bakkali was unstoppable again, winning in 8:03.53. Flawless in the men's high jump qualifying round, Ryoichi Akamatsu struggled to get into his rhythm in the final. After making 2.20 m and 2.25 on his first attempt, Akamatsu r...

  Following up on breakthrough performances at last month’s Asian Championships , the Japanese men made the 400 m heats the event of Day 2 at the Budapest World Championships for the Japanese team. In Heat 1 Kentaro Sato got it rolling with a 44.77 for 2nd, breaking the 32-year-old NR by 0.01 seconds and saying post-race that he’d go for more in the next rounds. Fuga Sato followed that with a 44.97 PB for 2nd in Heat 4, becoming just the 3rd Japanese man ever under 45 seconds. Joseph Nakajima didn’t quite match that level but with a 45.15 for 3rd in Heat 5 made it 3/3 for qualification for the semifinals. Former NR holder Abdul Hakim Sani Brown tied his old NR with a 9.97 +0.3 m/s in the men’s 100 m semifinals, then took 6th in the final in 10.04 +0.0 m/s. That was one place better than his 7th last year in Oregon, the first time a Japanese man had ever made a Worlds final in the 100 m. But although he was disappointed with his performance after his excellent semi, with Americ...

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

The 107th National Track and Field Championships and 39th U20 National Championships wrapped up Sunday in Osaka with a new national record and a meet record on the books. Running into a -0.9 m/s headwind, Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) pushed the second half of the men's 100 mH final to shave 0.2 off the NR with a 13.04 for the win. Izumiya was already at #2 in the world this season with his previous SB of 13.07, but his new NR inched him closer to current world leader Grant Holloway 's 13.01. Nine years after setting the Japanese men's NR, Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki) unexpectedly turned in a 1:46.18 MR to win the 800 m. Kawamoto was pushed over the last 200 m by Junya Matsumoto (FAJ), whose 1:46.52 PB for 2nd was enough to move him up to all-time Japanese #10. The absence of NR holder Ryota Yamagata and relay team regulars Yoshihide Kiryu , Shuhei Tada and Aska Cambridge from Nationals has raised a lot questions about the Japanese men's 4x100 relay team's chanc...