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...

A Tokyo Olympian in the men's 100 m, Shuhei Tada (29, Sumitomo Denko) has announced that he is taking a break. Tada finished 7th in the 100 m at the Aug. 20 Twilight Games at Kanagawa's Nissan Stadium, running 10.32 (-0.3). After that race Tada said, "I was feeling tired. But some of the others who had been racing a lot still put in good times, so I think my lack of training after my injury last year is impacting me now." Tada was unable to hit the 10.00 qualifying standard for September's Tokyo World Athletics Championships. "I'm going to take some time off and rest for a while until the day comes when there's a way forward." In 2017 Tada ran a wind-aided 9.94, the first time a Japanese man broke 10 on Japanese soil. With his fast start he was an important part of Japan's bronze medal-winning 4x100 m relay teams at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Given the recent surge in the number of talented young athletes Tada said he found inspi...

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...

The first Japanese man to break 10 seconds for 100 m, sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu (26, Nihon Seimei), announced on Sept. 29 that he plans to make a comeback after having taken time off since June's National Championships. In a video on Youtube, Kiryu revealed that for a long time he has been suffering from ulcerative colitis, a longterm disease that causes internal pain and bloody defecation. He indicated that he plans to return to racing next season, saying, "I want to enjoy it again." Kiryu ran 9.98 for 100 m in 2017, the first time a Japanese had ever broken the 10 second barrier. He said that the pressure and weight of expectations of him making it to the 9-second level had been a burden he had struggled to deal with. The stress began to affect him in during his second year at Toyo University in 2015. At times the bleeding was so bad that he was taking ten different pills a day in treatment. "At one point I thought my life as an athlete was over," he said. K...

Japan's never-ending outdoor track season rolls on this weekend with its last major meet, the 69th edition of the National Corporate Track and Field Championships at Osaka's Nagai Stadium. Running Friday through Sunday, the entry lists are heavy on members of the Tokyo Olympic team including men's 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda  and bronze medalist Toshikazu Yamanishi , and three of the four members of Japan's 4x100 m relay team, national record holder Ryota Yamagata , Shuhei Tada , and Yuki Koike . The meet will be streamed live on the organizers' Youtube channel , with streaming scheduled for 17:00~19:00 local time Friday, 13:20~19:00 Saturday, and 13:10~18:00 Sunday. © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

In what was considered Japan's best chance of medaling in Tokyo Olympics athletics, the Japanese men came up with a 6th-place finish by national record holder Masatora Kawano  in the final Olympic men's 50 km race walk. 2018 Asian champion Hayato Katsuki  had an early setback, losing a shoe in the first couple of km and never making his way back into contact. Kawano and national champion Satoshi Maruo  stayed near the front of the main pack until a move from Canadian Evan Dunfee  began to break it up.  Maruo soon fell off, but Kawano looked to be one of the medal contenders as the pack turned into five behind breakaway leader Dawid Tomala  of Poland. Without warning, around 42 km Kawano suddenly pulled off the course and went to his hands and knees to vomit. He could have been out of it at that point, but Kawano quickly bounced back up and set off to regain contact. He did, but the effort cost him in the final push. Tomala took gold in 3:50:08, with Germa...

Japan's women's and men's 4x100 m relays were the only ones in action in the morning session on the seventh day of track and field competition at the Tokyo Olympics . The women's team performed up to ability, delivering a season best 43.44 to finish 7th in their heat and not advancing to the final. The men's 4x100 m team has faced more pressure in the lead-up to this Olympics than anybody except maybe Japan's marathoners, so much so that the official Japanese broadcaster has been airing ads for the men's 4x100 m final all throughout the last week and a half on the assumption that the Japanese men would be there.  They will be, but barely. Japan finished 3rd in the first heat in 38.16 to take an auto-qualifying spot by 0.02 over France. With the two time qualifying spots going to Germany and Ghana in the second heat in 36.06 and 36.08 it was closer than anyone would have liked to a major embarrassment, and with Japan the slowest of the eight qualifiers for t...

On the second day of track and field at the Tokyo Olympic Games , joint national record holder in the 100 m hurdles  Asuka Terada  became the first Japanese woman since 2000 to make an Olympic semifinal, running just 0.08 off her NR. Running in the fifth heat, Terada had a good start and hung on to clock 12.95 (+0.3), the fastest among time qualifiers. Her NR co-holder Masami Aoki  and veteran Ayako Kimura  both failed to move on, Aoki finishing 7th in the third heat and Kimura 7th in the opening heat. In the men's pole vault, neither Seito Yamamoto  nor Masaki Ejima  advanced out of the qualification round. Both cleared only 5.30 m to finish near the bottom of the field. In the evening session, Yuki Hashioka  had a great showing in the men's long jump qualification round, winning his group with a jump of 8.17 m, third-best in the field overall and one of only three athletes to hit the auto-qualifying standard. National record holder Shotaro Shiroyama...

Three athletes picked up guaranteed spots on the Olympic team in off and on rain on the second day of the National Track and Field Championships and National U20 Track and Field Championships Friday in Osaka. Women's javelin throw national record holder Haruka Kitaguchi  scored her place with a 61.49 m final throw for the win, having already broken the Olympic qualifying standard and meeting the JAAF's criterium of a top 3 placing. That was a tougher job to pull off in the men's 100 m final, where five of the eight men on the starting line had the Olympic standard. The fast-starting Shuhei Tada  did his usual thing, out front early with national record holder Ryota Yamagata  to his left and the rest of the field just behind. But after years of getting run down in the last 30 m, this time Tada pulled it off. holding his position to win his first national title in 10.15 (+0.2). Yamagata faded and was overtaken by Tokai University 's Bruno Dede , who was 2nd in a PB of 10....

The last part of Japan's Olympic Trials for the Tokyo Olympics kicked off Thursday at Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai with the combined National Track and Field Championships and U20 National Track and Field Championships. In the men's 5000 m final, indoor 5000 m NR holder Hyuga Endo  took the national title in 13:28.67 behind Kenyan pacers Jackson Kavesa  and Amos Kurgat  but was far short of both the Olympic standard and scoring enough points to make it into the Olympic quota. "I've never been this unhappy to win in my life," he said post-race . Top-ranked Japanese man Hiroki Matsueda  was 2nd in 13:30.21, moving himself up to 36th in the quota and improving his chances of making the Olympic team. Yuta Bando  was 3rd in 13:31.46 to move into 40th in the quota, probably not enough to survive through next Tuesday's deadline for qualifying, with 10000 m NR holder Akira Aizawa  4th in 13:31.53, just shy of qualifying for the double at 43rd. Men's high jum...

There was a lot of distance action this weekend, but the biggest performance in Japan came at the Fuse Sprint meet in Tottori. Lucking out with a maxed out legal tailwind of 2.0 m/s, Ryota Yamagata  (Seiko) took 0.02 off the national record in his first sub-10 clocking to win in 9.95. 2nd-place Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) also scored a PB of 10.01, with sub-10 man Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) 3rd in 10.13. Despite a scratch from former NR holder Yoshihide Kiryu  and a weak run from relay regular Aska Cambridge , the Japanese men's 4x100 m looks to be in a stronger position than ever. Fuse also produced a national record in the women's 100 m hurdles thanks in part to an ideal +1.8 m/s tailwind. Masumi Aoki  (77 Ginko) equalled the 12.87 NR held by Asuka Terada  (Japan Create) for the win, with Terada running 12.89 for 2nd. Both women are still short of the Olympic qualifying standard, but the solid runs will push them up further from their current positions of 32...

The 55th Oda Memorial Meet went off as scheduled Thursday in Hiroshima with off and on rain leaving a wet track for most of the day.  In the women's 5000 m,  Teresia Muthoni  (Daiso) set a meet record 15:06.76 for the win, with runner-up Naomi Muthoni  (Univ. Ent.) the only other runner under the Olympic standard at 15:08.07. Japan-based Kenyans took five of the top six positions. Kazuna Kanetomo  (Kyocera) won the B-heat in 15:55.24. Kenyans swept the top three spots in the men's 5000 m A-heat, with local high schooler Cosmas Mwangi  (Sera H.S.) taking 1st in 13:22.80. Keita Sato (Rakunan H.S.), who turned 17 in January, was 4th in 13:42.50, the 4th-best time ever by a Japanese high schooler and over 3 seconds under the previous U18 national record. The men's 3000 m also turned out high-level results, with Keisuke Morita (Komori Corp.) leading the top six under 8:00 in a meet record 7:53.01. Another meet record came in the women's 3000 m steeplechase, w...

JAAF director Mitsugi Ogata , 60, spoke to the media Mar. 19 following an executive board meeting in Tokyo. Amidst widespread fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus, Ogata told reporters that April's elite track and field schedule would go ahead as planned, saying, "At the present time we plan to stage everything on schedule so as not to cause inconvenience to our athletes." The JAAF is planning a major Tokyo Olympics test event at the new Olympic Stadium in May. Ogata indicated that this would also be held as planned, saying, "Because track and field is an outdoor event the situation is quite different from that of an indoor event. We have received advice from infectious disease experts and can ensure a reasonable degree of safety." With regard to whether the Olympic test event might be held without spectators Ogata said, "I cannot comment on that. At the present that is not something we are considering." He did, however, indicate that it wo...

https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/news/world-relays-yokohama-day-1

Last week's Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar were held at Khalifa International Stadium , the same place where this fall's World Championships will be held. These days I'm working with three members of the Japanese team at the Asian Championships and went along to help them out and to check out the stadium and surrounding area. The below was my personal experience throughout the four days of the AAC. Day One One of the athletes' dad / coach was there to watch her run, so I spent the first day with him. He'd bought a ticket online, near the 250 m point on the back corner, Row 2, Seat 35. I couldn't get the online ticket site to work, so I went to the ticket office at the stadium to buy Seat 36. The two friendly young women working at the ticket window seemed pleasantly surprised that someone had come to buy a ticket, although when I asked they said I wasn't the first one. Our tickets said Gate 20, but when we went there we found that al...

Japan has named a team featuring ten individual medalists from the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games to get an early taste of this year's World Championships  at April's Doha Asian Athletics Championships . Along with its gold medal-winning men's 4x100 m team, standouts include Jakarta gold medalists Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) in the men's 200 m, Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) in the men's pole vault and Keisuke Ushiro (Kokushin Univ. AC) in the decathlon. The women's long distance roster is strong, led by 2018 World U20 Championships 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) in the 5000 m and the resurgent Hitomi Niiya (Nike Tokyo TC) in the 10000 m, while the most interesting name among the men is Jakarta 3000 m steeplechase bronze medalist Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.). 23rd Asian Athletics Championships Japanese National Team Doha, Qatar, Apr. 21-24, 2019 complete team listing underlined athletes are 2018 Asian Games medalists Women Sprints Chisat...

Battered by the winds of the passing Typhoon #25, Jakarta Asian Games 100 m bronze medalist Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) ended a long season with a national title in the senior men's 100 m on the second day of the Fukui National Sports Festival . A 5.2 m/s headwind meant there was no chance of Yamagata achieving his goal of finally breaking 10 seconds on the same track where Yoshihide Kiryu did it last year, but Yamagata duly dispatched rivals Yuki Koike (ANA) and Takumi Kuki (NTN) to take the win in 10.58. The wind was almost as much of an issue in the senior women's 100 m, where Nodoka Seko (Crane) won in 12.21 (-2.8 m/s), and the junior races. Senior women's discus throw winner Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu  Univ.) doubled back with a win in the shot put, throwing 15.84 m. Junior high schooler Asuka Ishimatsu (Hamanomiya J.H.S.) beat older competition to win the junior women's 1500 m in 4:26.07, while Aaron Clay (Soyo H.S.) took the longest men's event of the...

Agonizingly short of joining the sub-10 club last year when he ran a 10.00 (+0.2 m/s) PB and meet record to win the National Corporate Track and Field Championships men's 100 m, Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) returned to Osaka's Nagai Stadium Sunday to do it again. Facing national record holder and relay teammate Yoshihide Kiryu (Asics) at the National Corporate meet for the first time Yamagata came up just short again, winning in 10.01 (+0.0 m/s) . Kiryu, off his best form this season, was 2nd in 10.22. After running 10.00 (+0.8 m/s) at last month's Jakarta Asian Games Yamagata had been dead set on joining Kiryu sub-10 at this meet. Seeming to be stable at the level he's now at, one of these times it's going to come together. In distance action, Rosemary Wanjiru (Starts) took the women's 5000 m title in 15:15.03 by a second over teammate Grace Kimanzi . Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) was the top Japanese woman with her fastest time of the year, 15:...