japan running news

Two of Japan's hopefuls for making their final at the Tokyo Olympics , men's 110 m national record holder Shunsuke Izumiya  and previous NR holder  Taio Kanai both came up short in the semifinals at today's morning session. Running first, Kanai started well but caught his trailing foot on the eighth hurdle and fell, getting up to finish in 26.11. Izumiya hit the first hurdles, but while it didn't seem to have much of an impact on him he lost his balance after hitting the eighth hurdle and finished 3rd in his semi, just 0.03 from making the final on time. The lone Japanese man in the javelin throw, Takuto Kominami  threw 78.39 m to finish 19th in the qualifying round, just over 4 m short of getting into the top 12 and moving on to the final. The only Japanese athlete competing in the evening session, Nozomi Tanaka  shaved another fraction off her own record to make it through her 1500 m semifinal in 3:59.19. © 2021 Mika Tokairin, all rights reserved

One of Japan's hopes for a top 8 placing in track and field, women's javelin NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi  got off to a good start at the Tokyo Olympics with a season best opening throw of 62.08 m in the qualifying round, just short of the 63.0 m auto-qualifying mark. She wasn't able to improve on that in subsequent throws but advanced to Friday's final with ease, placing 3rd in her group and 6th overall. Kitaguchi is the first Japanese woman to make an Olympic javelin final since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Mirroring the lackluster performances in the men's 100 m, none of the three Japanese men in the 200 m moved on past the first round heats. Jun Yamashita came closest at 20.78 for 5th in the third heat, 0.25 off qualifying on time. In his third Olympics  Shota Iizuka  was 6th in the opening heat in 21.02, with Abdul Hakim Sani Brown  6th in the second heat in 21.41. In the evening session, national record holder Shunsuke Izumiya  and previous NR holder Taio Kan...

Japan's Trials for the Tokyo Olympic Games wrapped Sunday in Osaka at the 105th National Track and Field Championships and National U20 Track and Field Championships. A day after his Juntendo University  teammate Ryuji Miura set a NR in the men's 3000 mSC, Shunsuke Izumiya  stunned with a 13.06 (+1.2) NR to win the men's 110 mH. After Shuhei Ishikawa  and another Juntendo runner, Rachid Muratake , false started Izumiya was left with empty lanes on either side, but already holding the standard all he had to do was make the top 3 alongside NR holder Taio Kanai  and #2-ranked Shunya Takayama and a spot on the Olympic team was his.  Instead of playing it safe, he cut 0.24 off his best and 0.10 off Kanai's record for the win. How good was that? It ranks him #5 worldwide among Olympic qualifiers. Kanai was 2nd in 13.22 and Takayama just making it in 13.37 by 0.01 over Shuhei Nomoto , giving Japan a full squad for the 110 mH. It's too soon to call Izumiya a me...

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...

The last day of the 104th National Track and Field Championships saw a short stack of new records across disciplines, mostly on the women's side. The biggest news came in the women's discus throw, where Maki Saito (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) threw a new national junior record of 55.41 m on her fourth attempt and putting defending champ Minori Tsujikaw a (Uchida Yoko AC) into 2nd before coming back on her last to almost equal it. In the women's 100 m hurdles, it took a PB from Masumi Aoki (77 Ginko) to hold off national record holder Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) for the win, tying the meet record in 13.02 (-0.1). Taio Kanai (Mizuno) likewise held off national record holder Shunya Takayama (Zenrin), tying the meet record in 13.36 (-0.1) to win. Kanai and Takayama have alternated national titles for the last four years, with 13.36 their winning time for the last three. The women's 200 m saw the top three all drop PBs, Remi Tsuruta (Minami Kyushu Family Mart) u...

On the most exciting night yet at the Doha World Championships Japanese athletes only featured in the qualifying rounds of two events. Of them, 110 m hurdles national record holder Shunya Takayama was the only one to make it on to the next round, taking 2nd in his heat in 13.32. Taio Kanai was only 7th in his heat in 13.74, with third man Shunsuke Izumiya a DNS. In the women's javelin throw, top hope Haruka Kitaguchi was an unlucky 13th in the qualifying rounds, 6 cm out of making the final with a best throw of 60.84 m. Last-minute team addition Yuka Sato was 29th of the 31 women in the qualifying rounds with a throw of 55.03 m. Doha World Athletics Championships Day Four Japanese Results Doha, Qatar, 30 Sept. 2019 complete results Qualifying Rounds Men's 110 m Hurdles Heat 2 +0.5 m/s 1. Sergey Shubenkov (ANA) - 13.27 - Q 2. Wenjun Xie (China) - 13.38 - Q 3. Jason Joseph (Switzerland) - 13.39 - Q,  NR 4. Shane Bathwaite (Barbados) - 13.51 - Q 5. Veldo Sz...

The sprints and hurdles are where Japan is at its strongest outside the marathon. With everything pointing toward next year's Tokyo Olympics it's an interesting repetition of history that the two most exciting events right now are the same ones that saw Japan's first-ever Olympians back in 1912, the men's marathon and the men's 100 m. And all hail the new king in the 100 m. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) is the national record holder and heavy-duty favorite to take the win at this weekend's National Track and Field Championships . If he wins he's guaranteed a spot at the Doha World Championships. Likewise for his predecessor as NR holder, Yoshihide Kiryu (Nissay) and the newest addition to the top level of Japanese sprinting, Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko). The currently #2-ranked Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) is sadly a DNS, leaving it pretty much up to these three guys. But there's so much depth these days that even if one of them craps out Ja...

The JAAF has released the entry lists for the 2019 National Track and Field Championships to be held June 27-30 in Fukuoka. Anyone who has the standard for this fall's Doha World Championships and wins their event will be guaranteed a place on the Doha team, with most others having to wait until the IAAF's September deadline to find out if the JAAF will add them based on qualifying standard or world ranking. Fifteen athletes on the Nationals entry list across nine events currently have the standard and stand to firm up their fall schedules in Fukuoka, with another twenty in range of making the final cut based on current world rankings. Entry list highlights below. 103rd National Track and Field Championships Entry List Highlights Fukuoka, June 27-30, 2019 marks listed are best in last two years except where noted athletes in bold have cleared 2019 Doha World Championships standard athletes in italics are currently ranked inside Doha field size without standard comple...

Avoiding the worst of the typhoon that caused the season-opening national-level high school ekidens and other events to be canceled over the weekend, the National Sports Festival continued through Tuesday after day one and day two of athletics competition. National junior records fell in the women's 5000 m racewalk, where Nanako Fujii (Edion) took 2nd overall in 21:24.40, and the junior men's 110 m hurdles, where Ko Tawada (Ogaki Shogyo H.S.) ran 13.31 (+1.5 m/s) for the win. Tawada also broke the meet record, one of four to be set over the final three days. Along with Tawada's mark, women's 5000 m racewalk winner Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) set a new meet record of 21:08.97, Takumi Murashim a (Fuji Pref. Sports Assoc.) set a senior men's 800 m meet record of 1:47.45, with his teammate Taio Kanai (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.) breaking the senior men's 110 m hurdles record in 13.46 (+1.2 m/s). In distance action the highlight was the junior women'...

Not the man Japanese announcers expected to see on the podium, Shunya Takayama delivered Japan's only medal on day four of the Jakarta Asian Games , outrunning national record holder Taio Kanai for bronze in the men's 110 m hurdles. The entire focus of the Japanese coverage was on Kanai, but from the start he was out of form, ultimately finishing only 7th in 13.74. Takayama fought his way up from 4th, leaning so far at the line to overtake Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Khader Almuwallad for the medal that he fell. Wenjun Xie of China took the gold in 13.34 with Kueiru Chen of Taiwan running a PB of 13.39 for silver. National record holder Sho Kawamoto was also out of form in the men's 800 m, 7th in a disappointing 1:50.87. Yume Kitamura and Ayano Shiomi came closer in the women's 800 m but were still out of the medals at 4th and 5th. Likewise in the women's 5000 m, where Rina Nabeshima and Minami Yamanouchi took 4th and 6th, and the women's javelin thro...

Bronze was the color of Japan's luck on the third day of athletics competition at the Jakarta Asian Games , with three Japanese athletes medaling in jumps and hurdles. Takatoshi Abe was a favorite to medal in the men's 400 m hurdles, no match for championships record-breaking Qatari Abderrahman Samba but running a strong 2nd throughout the race. Coming into the home straight Abe had a sizable lead over Taiwan's Chen Chieh and Indian Dharun Ayyasamy , but as he came off the bend he began to tie up. Ayyasamy saw his chance and kicked hard, catching Abe just before the line to take silver and knock Abe back to bronze. One of Japan's strongest medal contenders, Naoto Tobe had something of an off day in the men's high jump, struggling to clear 2.24 m and tying for bronze with Syrian Majd Eddin Ghzal while winner Yu Wang of China went on to clear 2.30 m. Takashi Eto cleared 2.24 m on his final attempt to move into 6th but passed on the subsequent heights with a...

Masateru Yugami (Toyota) and Taio Kanai (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.) wrapped up the last day of the 2018 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in style, delivering national records in the men's discus throw and men's 110 m hurdles. Coming into Nationals with a best of only 59.30 m, Yugami threw PBs on five-straight throws, breaking the national record set last year by rival Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) on his last three. By the time the dust settled he held a new record of 62.16 m, an improvement of almost a minute and a half over Tsutsumi's record. "I'm happy to get this," he said afterward, "but I know other athletes are coming up too and I hope that we can take it further together." With a 0.7 m/s tailwind, the #4-ranked Kanai won the 110 mH final in 13.36, a PB by 0.17 and bettering both the year-old meet record and 2004-era national record. 3000 mSC winner Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) came up short of the national record, but his...

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...

by Brett Larner 【 #世界陸上 🇬🇧 #TBS 8月開幕】 《 #関東インカレ ２日目・桐生祥秀》 期待された桐生のスイッチは入らず。しかし、今季の走りのレベルは「９秒８台レベル」と土江コーチ 続きは https://t.co/Yye7JlUp3n #桐生祥秀 #TBS #世界陸上 pic.twitter.com/3f4yeOjkXq — TBSテレビ陸上 ８月は世界陸上ロンドン (@tbsrikujou) May 26, 2017 Day two of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships saw one of the the country's greats, Rio Olympics men's 4x100 m silver medalist Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.), lining up in the meet's 100 m for the final time of his college career. Heading into the semi-finals with the fastest time in the heats, Kiryu easily topped the semis with a 10.15 +1.8 m/s to take the top spot among the qualifiers for the final. There he ran 10.24 -0.5 m/s to add one last Kanto 100 m title to his collection. Anchoring Toyo's 4x100 m team he brought them home in 4th in 39.56, leaving just one more event, the 200 m, before he wraps up his final appearance at Japan's best meet. #関東インカレ 橋岡優輝 6回目 8m04 +0.1 跳んだ直後の雄叫び、記録が分かり喜びを爆発させる様子、ス...

by Brett Larner The men's 10000 m rounded out the day as the only final on the first day of competition at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, U.S.A.  After a slow first lap Keisuke Nakatani of 2013 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University went to the front to get the race moving, tailed only by 2014 Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University 's Hazuma Hattori .  Ranked 6th and 7th in the field by PB, the two Japanese athletes, both stage winners at January's Hakone Ekiden, were initially ignored by the faster Africans, allowing them to open a lead that at one point maxed at around 100 m.  Despite the gap, the pair's pace was never unrealistic as Nakatani held close to 29:10 pace, roughly 20 second slower than his best.  His projected finishing time based on his splits through 6000 m show how steadily he ran: 1000 m: 29:18.70 2000 m: 29:15.55 3000 m: 29:13.57 4000 m: 29:09.53 5000 m: 29:10.54 6000 m: 29:11.73 The slight su...