japan running news

by Brett Larner The big overseas names cleaned up at the Super Track and Field Meet in Kawasaki on Sept. 23, 2009. Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Gary Kikaya, Dwight Thomas, Perdita Felicien, Felix Sanchez, Tatiana Lebedeva, Teemu Wirkkala, Reese Hoffa and others all consigned the hosts' national champions to the runner-up spot or lower. Only women's 400 m national champion Asami Tanno (Team Natureal) and pole vaulter Takafumi Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) took the top spots in their events, while pole vault national champion Daichi Sawano (Team Nishi) and high jump national champion Naoyuki Daigo (Team Fujitsu) struggled with apparent injuries and could not clear the bar even once. Some highlights: Tyson Gay ran a relatively desultory 10.13 to win the 100 m, running even with national champion Masashi Eriguchi (Waseda Univ.) and Beijing Olympics 4x100 m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara (Team Fujitsu) until accelerating in the final stage just enough to ensure the win. Eriguchi appeare...

Broadcaster TBS will present the 2009 Super Track and Field Meet in Kawasaki , featuring Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Felix Sanchez and a host of Japan's top track and field athletes, from 2:53 to 4:43 p.m. on Sept. 23, Japan time. International viewers should be able to watch the meet live online for free by clicking here . JRN will be onhand and will be uploading its own video coverage shortly afterward.

by Brett Larner On Sept. 8 the organizers of the Super Track and Field Meet in Kawasaki 2009 released the entry lists for this year's meet to be held on Sept. 23. As in past years the meet has succeeded in signing a handful of marquee names to face off against the best domestic athletes. Topping the bill without a doubt are American sprinters Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix, along with hurdlers Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) and Perdita Felicien (Canada), shot putter Reese Hoffa (U.S.A.), and long jumper Tatiana Lebedeva (Russia). The Japanese field includes most of this year's national champions and several World Championships and Olympic medalists and national record holders, among them Yukifumi Murakami (javelin), Masashi Eriguchi (100 m), Naoki Tsukahara (100 m), Chisato Fukushima (100 m), Momoko Takahashi (100 m), Yuzo Kanemaru (400 m), Kenji Narisako (400 mH), Daiichi Sawano (pole vault), Asami Tanno (400 m), Asuka Terada (100 mH), Satomi Kubokura (400 mH), Kumiko Imura ...

by Brett Larner Men's 3000 m SC Heats National record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu ran 8:29.80 in the first heat, just 0.05 seconds off his winning time from June's National Track and Field Championships but far from his national record of 8:18.93. Iwamizu finished 9th in his heat and did not advance to the final. Women's 400 m Asami Tanno was Japan's first woman in an Olympic 400 m in 44 years. She ran 52.60 in the fifth heat, finishing 4th but failing to advance to the next round. Men's 100 m 2008 National Champion Naoki Tsukahara ran against big names Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Tyson Gay of the U.S.A. in the second heat of the men's 100 m semifinal. Tsukahara ran a season best 10.16, just 0.01 off his personal best, but finished 7th and did not advance to the final. Women's 100 m In Beijing Japan fielded its first woman in an Olympic 100 m in 56 years. Chisato Fukushima ran 11.74 in the 5th heat, a time she called, "no good at all" in a post-ra...