japan running news

The meet records kept coming on Day 3 of the 2025 National Sports Festival Sunday in Shiga. The biggest came in the junior women's javelin throw , where Ayaka Suzuki (Namisho H.S.) opened with a 57.11 m MR throw to win by almost 9 meters. That would have been good enough for 4th in the senior women's javelin throw , where Marina Saito (Suzuki) won over Momone Ueda (Zenrin) 59.39 m to 59.34 m, but more newsworthily put her at all-time #5 on the Japanese high school rankings, 1.79 m behind Paris Olympics champ Haruka Kitaguchi . Both the junior women's 5000 m race walk and junior men's 5000 m race walk took the event to new levels, with the top 4 in the women's race going under the MR and the top 2 in the men's race doing the same. Hikari Osaka (Nishinomiya H.S.) took the women's race by less than a second over Yuna Uchiyama (Honjo Higashi H.S.) 22:40.75 to 22:41.50, but the men's race was clearer-cut with Daichi Yamada (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) winn...

Saturday is the first day of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships . A quick guide to Japanese athletes in action in the morning and evening sessions: 7:30 - Women's 35 km Race Walk Yukiko Umeno (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:46:53 - 1st, Nationals Masumi Fuchise (Kenso) - 2:52:38 - 3rd, Nationals Maika Yagi (Chiba Kogyo Ginko) - 2:56:18 -  4th, Nationals Prognosis : Umeno is 16th in the field on season best and 20th in the Road to Tokyo rankings. Top 8 is a stretch. 7:30 - Men's 35 km Race Walk Masatora Kawano (Asahi Kasei) - 2:21:47 -  1st, Nationals 2024 Satoshi Maruo (Aichi Seiko) - 2:24:24 -  2nd, Nationals Hayato Katsuki (SDF Academy) - 2:24:38 -  1st, Nationals Prognosis : One of Japan's best chances to score a medal and rack up top 8 placings at this World Championships. Kawano is ranked #2 behind the legend Evan Dunfee of Canada, Katsuki has the 4th-best SB, and Maruo is ranked #5. 9:00 / 10:40 - Women's Discus Throw Qualification Nanaka Kori (Niigata Alb...

Having set an U18 world record of 10.00 in July's National High School Championships men's 100 m, 16-year-old Sorato Shimizu (Seiryo H.S.) held a public practice session in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. "I'm going for sub-10 while I'm still in high school," he said, indicating that he is aiming even higher. "I'm doing what I can to get there." The 2-hour public practice session focused on elements of motion. Although Shimizu is only 164 cm, he stands out for having proportionately long limbs and a dynamic running form. The up-and-coming new star of Japanese men's sprinting commented, "I want to work on movement focused on my hips. I think I can still improve my stride." Shimizu's performance at the National High School Championships got noticed not only in Japan but all around the world. German media even attended the session to interview him. "I want to become internationally competitive, so I hope a lot of people will get to find...

Japan's National High School Championships took place this weekend in Hiroshima and produced record-breaking performances across events despite hot conditions. Across the first two days of the Championships Kiichi Miyashita (3rd yr., Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) set new high school and meet records in the boys' heptathlon with a final score of 6325 that far surpassed the old record of 6264. Miyashita's strongest events were the sprints, where he ran 10.79 (+1.2) in the 100 m and 48.08 in the 400 m, with his weakest events being the shot put, 12.91 m, and high jump, 1.86 m. Felix Muthiani (3rd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) set a meet record 3:39.20 to win the boys' 1500 m , holding off Haruki Niizuma (3rd yr., Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) to 2nd in 3:40.83. Muthiani's record was a data point in favor of speculation by Saku Chosei H.S. head coach Masaru Takamizawa last summer that the new restriction of non-Japanese athletes to the shortest stage at the National High School...