japan running news

by Brett Larner In a super-fast women's 3000 m that saw winner Beyenu Degefa (Ethiopia) break the World U20 Championships record in 8:41.76 and silver and bronze medalists Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa (Bahrain) and Konstanza Klosterhalfen (Germany) run national junior records, Japan's Nozomi Tanaka ran a PB of 9:01.16 for 8th, well out of the medals but ticking another box on the JAAF's target number of top eight finishes.   Wakana Kabasawa was next, 9th in 9:10.20.  The daughter of sub-2:30 amateur marathoner Chihiro Tanaka , Tanaka came in at #7 on the all-time Japanese junior list, only the second runner after 1500 m national record holder Yuriko Kobayashi to make the all-time lists for both 1500 m and 3000 m.  In the men's long jump final Yuki Hashioka came up short of a top eight placing, jumping 7.31 m for 10th. The day's biggest success came from hurdler Takumu Furuya , who ran a PB 13.40 to win his 110 mH heat before returning to win again in the s...

Beijing, China, 8/28/15 click here for complete results Women's 20 km Race Walk 1. Hong Liu (China) - 1:27:45 2. Xiuzhi Lu (China) - 1:27:45 3. Lyudmyla Olyanovska (Ukraine) - 1:28:13 4. Ana Cabecinha (Portugal) - 1:29:29 5. Antonella Palmisano (Italy) - 1:29:34 ----- 25. Kumiko Okada (Japan) - 1:34:56 Men's High Jump Qualification Group A 1. Derek Drouin (Canada) - 2.31 m - Q 2. Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) - 2.31 m - Q 3. Brandon Starc (Australia) - 2.13 m - PB - Q ----- 15. Naoto Tobe (Japan) - 2.26 m 16. Takashi Eto (Japan) - 2.22 m Men's High Jump Qualification Group B 1. Guowei Zhang (China) - 2.31 m - Q 2. Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukraine) - 2.31 m - Q 3. Dimitrios Chondrokoukis (Cyprus) - 2.31 m - Q ----- 16. Yuji Hiramatsu (Japan) - 2.17 m Women's Javelin Throw Qualification Group A 1. Britney Borman (U.S.A.) - 64.22 m - Q 2. Christina Obergfull (Germany) - 64.10 m - Q 3. Sunette Vilioen (South Africa) - 63.93 m - Q ----- 9. Yuki Ebihara...

by Brett Larner Despite a conservative early leading pace from Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.), Japanese women came up empty-handed in the first final of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games , the women's 10000 m.  Russian Alla Kuliatina took over from Koeda after 2000 m and led virtually unchallenged the rest of the race including a stunning 2:51.30 split from 7000 m to 8000 m that blew the race apart.  Kuliatina took the Games' first gold in 32:52.27, compatriot Gulshat Fazlitdinova just beating out China's Yingying Zhang for silver in 32:56.60.  Koeda stayed true to her opening pace, running 33:47.21 for 5th, with Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) taking 9th in 34:24.92. In other events, both Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) and Kentaro Sato (Josai Univ.) advance through the men's 400 m heats, Kitagawa winning his in 47.34.  Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.), Tatsuro Suwa (Chuo Univ.) and Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) likewise made it through the opening heat...

by Brett Larner videos by naoki620 and JRN A day after becoming the first man in 78 years to win four-straight Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships 1500 m titles, Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) added another title to his collection, winning a third-straight 5000 m in 13:35.35.  Omwamba and 1500 m runner-up Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) went out front from the start, initially with some company from Japanese athletes but soon on their own.  Wambui made it a good race, at one point going to the front and knocking Omwamba back to 5th, but in the last km he was no match as Omwamba kicked away to win by just over 2 seconds.  Hiroki Matsueda (Juntendo Univ.) was an unexpected 3rd in 13:52.08, just holding off 30 km national collegiate record holder Yuma Hattori (Toyo Univ.). After winning the D2 10000 m Thursday night with a solid 59-second final lap, Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) did it again in the D2 5000 m with a 2:32 last 1000...

by Brett Larner The fourth day of athletics competition at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China saw the Games' first round of medal competition.  2014 National High School Champion Kenta Oshima gave Japan its first medal of the day, taking silver in the boys' 100 m in 10.57 (-0.5) just behind winner Sydney Siame of Zambia in 10.56.  2014 high jump National High School Champion Yuji Hiramatsu followed up quickly with a PB jump of 2.14 m, far short of Russian winner Danil Lysenko 's jump of 2.20 m but good for another silver medal. In the girls' 5000 m race walk Sayori Matsumoto came up just short of the medals in 4th in 23:54.71.  Discus throw youth national record holder Yume Ando was also 4th, his throw of 57.36 m undone by a PB 57.48 m throw by Ukrainian Ruslan Valitov .  In the girls' 800 m, 2014 National High School Champion Hina Takahashi was off her game, finishing last in the final in 2:09.96. Three Japanese athletes will be competing for med...

by Brett Larner The last two days of qualification rounds at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China saw three Japanese athletes advance to the medal-earning A finals in their events.  2014 National High School Champion Kenta Oshima led the way in the boys' 100 m, winning his heat in 10.62 (-0.5).  Jun Yamashita followed suit in the boys' 200 m, running a PB of 21.11 (-0.4) for 2nd in his heat to make the medal round.  Tomomi Kawamura missed making it a 100% success rate for Japan's sprinters, her 25.10 in the girls' 200 m only good for 4th in her heat and a place out of the medals in the B final.  In the girls' javelin, Nagisa Mori , only 5th at the Naitonal High School Track and Field Championships earlier this month, threw a PB of 50.72 for 5th in the qualification round and making the A final. The finals get underway Saturday, with five Japanese athletes competing for medals.  Oshima returns for the boys' 100 m final.  The girls' 800 m feature...

by Brett Larner Over half of the small Japanese track and field contingent at the 2014 Youth Olympics saw action on the first day of competition, with over half of those qualifying for the A-level final in their events.  4th in the 3000 m at this year's World Junior Championships, Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu , the daughter of 2001 Nagano Marathon winner Maxwell Musembi , led the way with a time of 9:08.01 for 4th in the girls' 3000 m qualification round, the only runner in the top five not to PB but only 1.14 seconds behind winner Fatuma Chebsi (Bahrain).  2014 National High School champions Hina Takahashi and Yuji Hiramatsu finished 4th in their events' qualifying rounds to both make their A finals, Takahashi quick enough at 2:09.59 in the girls' 800 m and Hiramatsu one of only five athletes to clear 2.10 m in the boys' high jump.  Boys' discus national youth record holder Yume Ando threw 55.87 m for 6th in the qualifying round, good enough to also make the...

by Brett Larner Amid concerns for athletes' safety in a city with strong resentment of Japanese denial of the Nanking Massacre , with delegation head Yosuke Fujiwara directing team members not to wear their uniforms outside the athletes' village and boos greeting the Japanese delegation during the opening ceremonies , Japan sends a team of only thirteen to compete in athletics at the second Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. 4th in the girls' 3000 m at last month's World Junior Championships in Eugene, U.S.A., Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) is the lone distance runner on the team, a sure medal contender after her 9:02.85 in Eugene.  Other prominent members include Hina Takahashi (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) in the girls' 800 m, Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.) in the boys' 100 m, Sayori Matsumoto (Nara Ikuei H.S.) in the girls' 5000 m race walk and Yuji Hiramatsu (Shijoyo H.S.) in the boys' high jump, all national title winners at...

Bangkok, Thailand, 5/21-22/14 click here for Day One results click here for Day Two results Girls' 3000 m 1. Fatuma Jewaro Chebsi (Bahrain) - 9:42.12 2. Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Japan) - 10:15.52 3. Nazarova Mekhrangez (Tajikistan) - 10:31.65 4. Nelia Martins (Timor-Leste) - 11:16.16 5. Aviuntungolog Enkhbayov (Mongolia) - 11:30.20 Girls' 1500 m 1. Dalila Abdulkadirgosa (Bahrain) - 4:21.61 2. Nana Kuraoka (Japan) - 4:22.01 3. Zipei Jiang (China) - 4:34.91 4. Aprilia Kartina (Indonedia) - 4:45.38 5. Nastaran Akbari (Iran) - 5:16.88 Girls' 800 m 1. Hina Takahashi (Japan) - 2:09.28 2. Desi Mokonin (Bahrain) - 2:11.39 3. Fernando K.N. Dilhani (Sri Lanka) - 2:11.55 4. Zipei Jiang (China) - 2:13.50 5. Thi Tham Tran (Vietnam) - 2:13.81 Girls' 200 m 1. Xiaojing Liang (China) - 24.08 2. Manqi Ge (China) - 24.30 3. Zion Corrales-Nelson (Philippines) - 24.30 4. Tomomi Kawamura (Japan) - 25.12 5. Shiori Kakegawa (Japan) - 25.26 Girls' 100 mH 1....