japan running news

Part of the qualification process for this summer's Oregon World Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon trials, the Nagoya Women's Marathon takes place this Sunday, Mar. 13. One of the women who will be lining up is star 22-year-old collegiate distance runner Yuka Suzuki . A 4th-year at Daito Bunka University  with a best of 31:37.88 for 10000 m, Suzuki won the gold medal in the World University Games half marathon her 2nd year of college. Ever since then, the Olympics have been a clear target. "I want to go for the Paris Olympics, and even higher goals," she says. "That's why I want to run my first marathon before I graduate."  Suzuki also has an artistic side. Holding up a picture she drew she says, "This is the scene of entering Nagoya Dome right before the finish. When I was young I wanted to be a manga or anime artist." She has painted since she was a child, and sometimes she gives teammates drawings or paintings for their bir...

Kengo Suzuki age: 24 sponsor: Fujitsu graduated from: Uwajima Higashi H.S., Kanagawa University best time inside MGC window: 2:10:21, 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon PB: 2:10:21, 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:57.88 (2016) 10000 m: 28:30.16 (2016) half marathon: 1:01:36 (2017) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 13th, 2019 Hamburg Marathon, 2:11:36 DNS, 2019 Tokyo Marathon 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:10:21 other major results: 4th, 2018 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:26 3rd, 2017 Taipei Universiade Half Marathon, 1:06:56 1st, 2017 National University Half Marathon, 1:01:36 – CR 1st, 2017 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:17 3rd, 2016 Hakone Ekiden Qualifier 20 km Road Race, 58:43 3rd, 2016 National University Half Marathon, 1:03:08 Suzuki’s breakthrough to the top level of Japanese distance running came early in 2017 with a win on the Hakone Ekiden’s most competitive stage and two months later with a 1:...

A global celebration of university student sports, the closing ceremonies for 30th anniversary Summer Universiade took place July 14 in Napoli, Italy to bring 12 days of competition across a range of collegiate sports. Japanese athletes took part in all 15 categories of competition, winning a total of 33 gold medals to rank #1 worldwide in the medal count standings. Japanese athletes also won 21 silver medals and 28 bronze for a total of 82 medals overall, also ranking #1. Russia scored 82 medals total but had 22 golds, with China 3rd at 22 golds and 43 medals overall. The U.S.A. was 4th. Just before the start of the closing ceremonies, Japanese delegation leader Ichiro Hoshino gave a positive evaluation of the teams's performance, saying, "I believe that our athletes in each area of competition carried their weight to help achieve this excellent result, and that that will provide momentum in Tokyo 2020." The next Summer Universiade takes place in Chengdu, China in 2...

Japan pulled off three medal sweeps in the last two days of track and field competition at the 2019 Napoli Universiade , taking all three individual medals and the team gold medals in the men's 20 km race walk and both the women's and men's half marathons. Koki Ikeda kicked off the medal rush Friday with a 1:22:49 win in the men's 20 km race walk, opening more than 30 seconds on teammates Masatora Kawano and Yuta Koga . The next morning the Japanese women followed the walkers' lead, waiting until the third time around the three-lap course to drop the competition. Just 19, 2019 National University Half Marathon champion Yuka Suzuki  (Daito Bunka Univ.) was really impressive over the last two kilometers, seeming to be going at an all-out sprint and opening more than 20 seconds on Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.) and Yuki Tagawa  (Matsuyama Univ.) for the win in 1:14:10. #ユニバーシアード2019 男子ハーフマラソン スタジアムで表彰待ちをしていたら伊藤くんが繰り上げで3位になった情報が入ってビックリ😳 中国人選手が指定の場所以外で給水を取ったので失格にな...

Following up the pair of silvers and single bronze medal on the first two days of track and field competition at the 2019 Napoli Summer Universiade , women's javelin national champion Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) was the only Japanese athlete to win a medal on the third and fourth day of the international competition, throwing 60.15 m to take silver behind Lithuanian gold medalist Liveta Jasiunaite 's winning 60.36 m throw. A gold medalist in the men's 4x100 m at the 2017 Universiade, Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) was 0.03 from a bronze in the men's 200 m this time around, running 20.58 (+0.5 m/s) behind Ireland's Marcus Lawler . Paulo Andre Camilo (Brazil) won gold in 20.28. Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) was also 4th in the men's 400 m hurdles, running 49.27. Alison Santos (Brazil) led all three medalists under 49 seconds with a 48.57 for gold. The three other Japanese finalists over the third and fourth days all finish 6th through 8th in their event...

Japan picked up three meals in the first two days of athletics competition at the 2019 Napoli Summer Universiade  in Italy, including silver medals in both the women's and men's 10000 m. After three aborted starts thanks to problems with the starting gun  Rino Goshima (Chuo Univ.) got things moving on July 8 in the women's 10000 m, losing out in a close finish 34:03.31 to 34:04.65 to China's Deshun Zhang , with teammate Natsuki Sekiya (Daito Bunka Univ.) just as close behind her in the bronze medal position. Sub-28 man Hiroki Abe (Meiji Univ.) kept it going on the 9th with a silver in the men's 10000 m in an even closer finish behind South African Mokorane Milton Kekana , 29:29.43 to 29:30.01. Hakone Ekiden First Stage king Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyo Univ.) was off his game, finishing just 8th over 40 seconds back from Abe in 30:10.65. In the other two finals featuring Japanese athletes on the first two days of the Universiade, Japan's finalists both too...

The JOC has announced a team of 42, 16 women representing 11 universities and 26 men from 13 universities, for track and field competition at next month's 30th anniversary Napoli Universiade . Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) is the only returning medalist from the 2017 Universiade on the Japanese team, part of last time's gold medal-winning men's 4x100 m lineup. But medal chances are good in the men's and women's half marathons, both areas of traditional strength, in the men's 20 km race walk, where Masatora Kawano (Toyo Univ.) and Koki Ikeda (Toyo Univ.) have the 2nd and 3rd-best times in the world so far this year, the men's long jump, where Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) is tied for 4th-best in the world, the women's javelin throw, with Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) throwing 8th-best in the world this season, the men's 400 m hurdles, where Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) is ranked 18th in the world this season, and the men's pole vault, with M...

Wearing bib #21 on his 21st birthday, 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa University) turned in the best-ever Japanese collegiate placing at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 7th in 1:03:05 just 26 seconds off the win. Katanishi and his Komazawa teammate Shogo Ise earned invites to the NYC Half by taking the top two Japanese collegiate spots at last November's Ageo City Half Marathon. Off the tougher new New York course both Katanishi and Ise ran in the lead group for the first two-thirds of the race, Ise near the front and Katanishi biding his time at the back of the pack. When the first real move came on the uphill approaching Times Square Katanishi was quick to reposition himself into the top three just off the shoulder of leader Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.), staying in the action and looking smooth through the first set of Central Park hills. "I just took the early part easy and watched the others and what was going on,...

In front of an almost sellout crowd packing the stadium to see the breakthrough Taiwanese men's sprinters in action, Japan wrapped the final day of athletics competition at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade with a pair of 4x100 m relay medals that assured it the top spot on the overall medal table. The women's 4x100 m team, comprised of Ichiko Iki , Miyu Maeyama , Mizuki Nakamura and Sayaka Takeuchi , were well off lead pair Kazakhstan and Switzerland through the race, lagging a relatively short distance behind bronze medal position Poland. Japan crossed the finish line in 4th in 44.56, breaking a collegiate national record that had stood for almost 11 years but short of the medals. That changed on review, though, when winners and defending gold medalists Kazakhstan were disqualified for a lane violation. The DQ bumped Japan up to an unexpected bronze medal. The atmosphere in the stadium was raucous for the men's 4x100 m featuring Taiwan's very own 100 m gold m...

For the second Universiade in a row Japan pulled off a near-sweep of the half marathon medals, taking all three men's individual medals, women's gold and bronze and both team golds. Komazawa University's Kei Katanishi and Naoki Kudo went 1-2, leaving national university half marathon champion Kengo Suzuki over 30 seconds behind to hold off Uganda's John Kateregga for bronze. Wataru Tochigi took 6th to make it 4 Japanese men in the top 6, the only misstep coming from Takato Suzuki of national champion Aoyama Gakuin University who finished only 12th after scratching in the 10000 m. Not so for women's gold medalist Yuki Munehisa . Munehisa had led most of the women's 10000 m only to get dropped in the last kilometer and wind up outside the medals in 4th. In the half marathon she was bound and determined not to end up the same way again, doing all the heavy lifting to drop Turkey's Esma Aydemir with teammate Saki Fukui in a supporting role. Munehisa ...

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...

Runner-up at June's National Championships, Marina Saito broke through with a women's javelin collegiate national record 62.37 m throw on her last attempt to take silver at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade. On her second throw Saito marked 61.06 m, the only woman to clear 61 m under Poland's Marcelina Witek threw a PB of 63.31 m on her fifth attempt. Needing a massive throw to retake the top spot, Saito cleared the Japanese university national record by a meter with a PB of 62.37 m and moved up to all-time Japanese #2 but had to settle for silver. The woman whose record she broke, Haruka Kitaguchi , struggled on her first three throws and failed to advance to the top eight, her best throw only 56.30 m. Another medal came in the men's triple jump. Ranked #1 in the qualifying rounds, Ryoma Yamamoto led off with a jump of 16.80 m (+1.7 m/s) that put him into 2nd behind Azerbaijan's Nazim Babeyev . Unable to improve on that, Yamamoto looked set for silver unti...

Following up on Ai Hosod a's bronze medal in the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade women's 10000 m yesterday, Rio Olympian Kazuya Shiojiri capped the second day of athletics competition with 10000 m bronze of his own. Always near the front, Shiojiri helped shape the lead quartet that included defending silver medalist Nicolae Soare (Romania) and Ugandans Sadic Bahati and John Kateregga . All four took turns leading at a steady pace between 2:53 and 2:54/km before Kateregga fell off in the second half. Shiojiri lost a few meters to a short surge by Soare near 7000 m and, although he didn't lose ground, couldn't quite regain his footing. By the time the last duel between Bahati and Soare started Shiojiri was out of range, settling for bronze. Both of the lead pair clocked new PBs despite the humid conditions, Bahati scoring gold in 29:08.68 and Soare silver again in 29:12.76. Shiojiri rolled in 8 seconds back in 29:20.96 to take Japan's second medal of the Games...

Ai Hosoda became the first Japanese medalist of the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade, winning bronze in the women's 10000 m to wrap the first day of athletics competition. 【 #台北ユニバーシアード 】 女子10000m 細田あいが銅メダル🥉 （写真：奥井隆史） #陸上 #ユニバーシアード pic.twitter.com/tq9XLAU99r — スポーツナビ・陸上編集部 (@sn_gorin) August 24, 2017 Leading the field with a sub-32 best, 19-year-old Yuki Munehisa led the first 9000 m on the race before being overtaken by Daria Maslova (Kyrgyszstan),   Sanjivani Jadhav (India) and Hosoda. On the last lap Maslova kicked away to gold in 33:19.27 less than 3 seconds ahead of Jadhav, with Hosoda 6 seconds behind for bronze. Munehisa fell to 4th, with third team member Natsuki Sekiya , a favorite to medal in the 5000 m, off her game at 12th in 35:21.19. 【 #ユニバーシアード 】 多田修平(関西学院大) 3組1着 0.0 10.29 スタートから1位をキープし、安定したレース展開でした！ 準決勝進出です！！ #青春に駆けろ pic.twitter.com/I5UBAidmIE — 日本学生陸上競技連合 (@iuauj) August 23, 2017 With the rest of the day devoted to qualifying rounds Ho...

Following protests outside the main stadium that interrupted its opening ceremonies Saturday night , the athletics component of the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade is set to start Wedenesday. As always Japan is sending a solid crew of its A-list collegiate talent to the World University Games, with a team of 24 men and 14 women set to compete over the six day run of athletics. Getting things off to a quick start, London World Championships men's 4x100 m bronze medallist Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin University) is set to run the first men's 100 m on the first day on competition. Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo University), Ryo Kajiki (Josai University), Ryoma Yamamoto (Juntendo Univ.) and Marina Saito (Kokushikan University) will also double back from representing Japan in London to compete in Taipei, Kitagawa in the men's 400 m, Kajiki in the men's 400 m hurdles, Yamamoto in the men's triple jump and Saito in the women's javelin throw. London men's 20 km...

The IUAU has announced a 38-member team for the Aug. 23-28 Summer Universiade in Taiwan, with 24 men and 14 women representing 26 universities. Rio Olympian Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) leads the team in men's long distance, with newly sub-10.10 Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) an expected favorite in men's sprints. Javelin throw and heptathlon collegiate record holders Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon University) and Meg Hemphill (Chuo University) lead the women's team. The complete team roster: Men Sprints Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin University) Yusuke Tanaka (Nihon Wellness University) Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba University) Sho Kitagawa (Juntendo University) Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo University) Shusei Nomoto (Waseda University) Taio Kanai (Hosei University) Ryo Kajiki (Josai University) Long Distance Wataru Tochigi (Juntendo University) Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo University) Takato Suzuki (Aoyama Gakuin University) Kengo Suzuki (Kanagawa University) Nao...

by Brett Larner video by Ekiden News 【学生ハーフ】 スタートしました！ユニバーシアードへの切符は誰の手に！？ pic.twitter.com/icWUjoqbc7 — 日本学生陸上競技連合 (@iuauj) March 5, 2017 Quickly rising to the top of university men's distance running this season with a 58:43 3rd-place finish at October's Hakone Ekiden qualifier 20 km and a 1:07:17 win on the 23.2 km Hakone Ekiden Second Stage, Kengo Suzuki (Kanagawa Univ.) ran the biggest race of his career to date with a course record-breaking 1:01:36 win at the 2017 National University Men's Half Marathon Championships in western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. 1:01:25 man Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) took the race out at sub-61 pace, but after a 29:08 split at 10 km Suzuki got down to work.  Pushing the second half and pulling away alone, he became the first man to break 62 minutes at the National University Half, the deepest half marathon in the world with 265 finishers sub-66 in 2015.  Suzuki's finishing time of 1:01:36 made him the 7th-fastest Japanese-...

http://www.saga-s.co.jp/news/saga/10105/379587 translated by Brett Larner On Nov. 22 Athletics New Zealand signed an agreement with the Saga prefectural government to hold its national team training camp in Saga ahead of August's 29th World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan.  New Zealand has held pre-games camps in Saga since August last year.  Athletics New Zealand representatives were positive about the possibility of holding its pre-2020 Tokyo Olympics camp in Saga as well. Athletics New Zealand athlete performance support manager Michelle Wood met with Saga governor Yoshinori Yamaguchi .  Before last year's Beijing World Championships the New Zealand national team trained in Saga, and Wood had previously visited Saga two years ago.  "I felt that Saga was not too big, quiet and with wonderful hospitality that made it feel like home," she told Governor Yamaguchi of the deciding factor in Athletics New Zealand's decision. Looking toward the future she ...

by Brett Larner video by naoki620 Following in the footsteps of his former Aoyama Gakuin University teammate Takehiro Deki 's win at last weekend's Gold Coast Half Marathon , Yusuke Ogura became the first Japanese man since 2001 to win the World University Games half marathon taking gold in 1:04:41.  Ogura, who played a key role in AGU's course record-setting Hakone Ekiden win in January and ran 1:02:03 at February's Marugame Half Marathon, led his AGU teammate and National University Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki and Yuta Takahashi (Teikyo Univ.) in a sweep of the podium, the first time in World University Games history that men from a single country have taken all three half marathon medals. A slow first 10 km kept most of the field together, but a move from the Japanese athletes shortly after that broke things up quickly, and by 15 km they were well ahead of chasers Soufiane Bouchikhi (Belgium) and Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.), the runner-up b...

by Brett Larner video by naoki620 Hurdler Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) became the third Japanese medalist in athletics at the Gwangju World University Games , taking bronze in the men's 110 mH final.  After a decently quick start Masuno lost ground to eventual gold and silver medalists Greggmar Swift (Barbados) and Konstantin Shabanov (Russia), but with a solid kick after the final hurdle he was strong enough to hang on to 3rd as he made the podium in 13.69 by a margin of just 0.03 seconds. No such luck in the day's distance final, the women's 5000 m, where favorites Natsuki Omori (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) sat through a slow first 4000 m that saw almost the entire field wait it out for a sprint finish over the last 1000 m.  Kristina Maki (Czech Republic) had the gear to find gold, running 2:55.32 for the final km, with the top 8 all finishing within less than 7 seconds of her.  Omori and Koeda were on the losing end of the gr...