by Brett Larner On the third day of competition at the Moscow World Championships the biggest Japanese performances came in the men's 400 m hurdles and men's pole vault. Takayuki Kishimoto (Team Fujitsu) finished 3rd in his 400 m hurdles heat to gain an automatic qualifying spot for the semi-final, the only one of Japan's four male and female hurdlers to advance at this distance and with a realistic chance of making the final. In the pole vault, national champion Seito Yamamoto (Chukyo Univ.) cleared 5.75 m to take 6th, a PB by 4 cm that made him the only athlete in the top ten to set a new PB at the World Championships. Hammer great Koji Murofushi (Mizuno) also took 6th, throwing a season best 78.03 m. Along with hurdlers Satomi Kubokura (Niigata Albirex AC), Yasuhiro Fueki (Team Aima) and Takatoshi Abe (Chukyo Univ.), men's 400 m national champion Yuzo Kanemaru (Team Otsuka) also missed out on advancing, finishing last in his semi-f...
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