japan running news

3 Japanese women and 7 men competed at this weekend's World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, and out of those 5 made their finals. NR holder Nozomi Tanaka was in the 3000 m final, where she was 13th of 14 finishers in 9:07.77 in a race where it took 8:58.18 to get into the medals. Neither Mako Fukube nor Chisato Kiyoyama made the women's 60 mH final, 100 mH NR holder Fukube making the semifinals where she was 7th in SF3 in 8.06 but Kiyoyama eliminated in the first-round heats with an 8.15 for 7th in H5. Fukube was actually faster in the heats, tying her PB with an 8.02 in H6 to move on to the semis. On the men's side, Shusei Nomoto came in hot in the 60 mH, tying his PB of 7.57 to make the semis and then running a 7.49 NR for 3rd in SF3 to make the final on time. There he ran 7.49 again, 0.06 out of the medals in 6th. Teammate Ryota Fujii ran 7.81 for 6th in his opening round heat and didn't make the semifinals. Allon Tatsunami Clay was a...

Japan is sending a team of 3 women and 7 men to this weekend's Kujaway Pomorze World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland. A quick look at the lineup with best times in last 3 years: Women 3000 m Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 8:33.52 (2025) 60 mH Mako Fukube (NKK) - 8.02 (2026) Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 8.09 (2026) Men 60 m Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 6.53 (2024) Yoshiki Kinashi (Tsukuba Univ. Grad School) - 6.60 (2026) 800 m Allon Tatsunami Clay (Penn State Univ.) - 1:45.17 (2026) 60 mH Shusei Nomoto (Ehime T&F) - 7.59 (2026) Ryota Fujii (Tottori Sports Assoc.) - 7.71 (2024) High Jump Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 2.30 m (2026) Tomohiro Shinno (Kraftia) - 2.30 m (2026) © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

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...

With Kana Kobayashi the top-placing Japanese woman in the Tokyo World Athletics Championships marathon yesterday at 7th, hopes were high that the men would come through with a medal in the event they care the most about. But alas. Yuya Yoshida was clearly nowhere near his Fukuoka CR-breaking form and was off the back of the lead pack by halfway, ultimately finishing 34th in 2:16:58. Paris Olympics marathon trials winner Naoki Koyama lasted longer but could still only manage a 2:13:42 for 23rd. The surprise was debut marathon NR holder Ryota Kondo , who ran 2:10:53 for 11th in only the second marathon of his career. It's back to the drawing board, but with the JAAF having revised the qualifying standards for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials to prioritize time even more over competitive performance ability, there's not much reason to be optimistic that Japanese marathoners are going to be relevant in championship races anytime in the foreseeable future. Anyway, Tanzanian Alp...

With less than 3 weeks to go until the Aug. 24 deadline to qualify for September's Tokyo World Championships let's take a look at what kind of team Japan might have. In terms of potential medalists there are 6 solid candidates, all the usual suspects. World and Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi leads the women's javelin throw. Ranked 5th, Nanako Fujii has an outside chance in the women's 20 km race walk. On the men's side, Ryuji Miura looks to be a contender in the 3000 mSC where he's ranked 3rd. Toshikazu Yamanishi and Satoshi Maruo are ranked 1-2 in the 20 km race walk, with Masatora Kawano at 3rd in the 35 km race walk. After that it's the always-strong men's 4x100 m, ranked 2nd, although the big question is who is going to be on the team. In the marathon, you want to feel like Fukuoka CR breaker Yuya Yoshida has a chance. The women's javelin, marathon and race walks look like the only events where Japan is likely to field full squads of 3...

  The Japanese men's 110 mH national record holder at 13.04 and a semifinalist in the Paris Olympics 110 mH, Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) turned in the biggest performance at this year's National Corporate Track and Field Championships. Doing his annual shot at the long jump at Corporate Nationals, Izumiya beat his 2022 best of 8.00 m and last year's winning mark of 8.10 m with a new PB of 8.14 m (+0.7) on his first and only successful attempt. That was good enough to take the win over Hibiki Tsuha by 11 cm and moved Izumiya up to all-time Japanese #10 in the long jump. NR holder Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) was 3rd with a first attempt jump of 7.81 m (+0.5). Other standout performances: Shoto Uno (Orico) got into the sub-10.1 club with a 10.09 (+1.4) win in the men's 100 m final. 400 m specialists Fuga Sato (Mizuno) and Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) stepped down to the 200 m, beating Uno to go 1-2 in 20.67 (+0.4) and 20.79 with Uno 3rd in 20.90. Nanako Matsumoto (T...

  The 2023 National Corporate Track and Field Championships wrapped up Sunday at Gifu's Nagaragawa Stadium. Two of the three recent sub-13:10 men in the 5000 m took the top positions, Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) getting the win in 13:27.31 and Cosmas Mwangi (Chugoku Denryoku) 2nd in 13:27.94. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) was a close 3rd in 13:28.54, with Yuto Imae (GMO) the fastest Japanese placer in 13:39.47 for 9th. Favorite Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) dropped another sub-15 to win the women's 5000 m in 14:57.63, with Esther Muthoni (Nitori) right behind her in 14:58.03. Susan Kamotho (Yamada Holdings) was 3rd in 15:04.73, with Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) the top Japanese finisher at 7th in 15:33.69. In other track results: In the men's 800 m, Daichi Setoguchi (Team SSP) won the national title in 1:48.81, Nozomi Tanaka (Team NB) taking the women's race in 2:03.98. 400 m national record holder Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) won the men's 200 m fin...

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...