japan running news

On July 23 the Fujitsu corporate team announced that men's 20 km race walk world record holder and 2019 50 km world champion Yusuke Suzuki , 36, and three-time men's 400 m national champion Julian Walsh , 27, are retiring at the end of the month. Suzuki competed in the 2012 London Olympics in the 20 km race walk. In 2015 he set a world record of 1:16:36 for 20 km at the National Race Walk Championships in Nomi. At the 2019 Doha World Championships he won the 50 km race walk, the first time a Japanese athlete won gold at an international championships including the Olympics. After that, he suffered setbacks from overtraining and other issues and did not try to make the Tokyo Olympic team in 2021. After leaving Fujitsu Suzuki will become a coach at Niigata University of Food and Agriculture . "I want to give the next generation of athletes the same kind of support that I received in my time as an athlete," he said. A member of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2021 Tokyo Ol...

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/asia-athletes-high-performance-competition-co

Hospitalized since Mar. 30 after contracting the novel coronavirus, 2008 Beijing Olympics men's 4x100 m silver medalist Naoki Tsukahara , 34, has been released from the hospital. According to a spokesperson for Fujitsu, where Tsukahara is employed as an advisor to its track and field field, following the completion of his treatment Tsukahara was discharged on Apr. 12. He is now resting at home. Tsukahara appeared at as a special guest instructor at a track and field workshop event in Mie on Mar. 28. He began to feel sick a few hours after the event and went to a local hospital to be examined. When his fever did not go down the next day a PCR was conducted, and on the 30th he was found to have contracted the virus. Despite Fujitsu policy not to reveal the names of infected employees, Tsukahara insisted that his name be disclosed in order to help prevent further spread. Fujitsu team members include Tokyo Olympics men's marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura and 2019 Doha W...

Following the announcement of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021, the athletes already named to the women's and men's marathon teams are expected to retain their positions as national representatives at the Olympics. A day after the Olympic announcement, JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko confirmed that the project team is thinking in that direction. "I want to protect the rights of the six athletes already on the team," he said. "Their places on the team are something they earned themselves through a three-year process. We do not intend to take that away. This morning one of their coaches called me and asked, 'What's going to happen to my athlete?' All of them are worried that their places on the Olympic team will be annulled. I can tell them that thanks to the MGC process we have confidence in them as our national representatives. The final word, however, is that of the JAAF board of directors." Oth...

20 km race walk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki delivered Japan's first medal of the Doha World Championships, defying the heat and humid to lead to men's 50 km race walk start to finish for gold in 4:04:20. His teammates Hayato Katsuki and Tomohiro Noda didn't fare as well, Katsuki 27th of 28 finishers and Noda among the many casualties, but Suzuki's bold and brash performance in similar conditions to what the field will face in Tokyo next year, if darker, gives Japan hope that it's got at least one solid gold contender for the home game. More history made at @IAAFDoha2019 as Yusuke Suzuki wins Japan's first ever race walking #WorldAthleticsChamps title 🇯🇵🥇 Fantastic victory for the @jaaf_official athlete one year before @Tokyo2020 . 📰: https://t.co/gghIeeRTPa pic.twitter.com/bZ0UYTgVWs — IAAF (@iaaforg) September 29, 2019 The lone Japanese woman in the 50 km, Masumi Fuchise just missed a top 10 finish in 4:41:02. One of Japan's ...

The 2018 National Corporate Track and Field Championships continued Saturday at Osaka's Nagai Stadium with a pair of records to mark the day. On the women's side, Nanako Fujii (Edion) set a junior national record of 44:13.37 to finish 2nd in the 10000 m racewalk behind winner Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera). On the men's side, Takumi Murashima (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.)  took half a second off the previous 800 m meet record set by former national record holder Masato Yokota , winning in 1:47.97. 2nd and 3rd-placers Taichi Ichino (Roble) and Naoto Arayasu (Fujitsu) were also under Yokota's record, making the 800 m the race of the day. In other noteworthy results, men's 20 km race walk world record Yusuke Suzuki (Fujitsu) returned from a six-month suspension for fudging expense claims to win the 10000 m race walk in 39:05.19.  Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) won the regular 10000 m in 27:45.31, leading the top five under 28 minutes. 2017 national XC champ Takas...

On Feb. 8 it was announced that men's 20 km racewalk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (30, Fujitsu), has been suspended for six months beginning in October last year for making fraudulent expense claims to the JAAF in relation to support money he was receiving from the Federation. In 2016 Suzuki was designated as a high performance athlete with medal potential, a categorization that qualified him for an annual 10 million yen [~$92,000 USD] stipend to support his training. According to an involved person, from October, 2016 to March last year Suzuki had filed travel expenses for 150 trips from the Fujitsu athlete dormitory in Chiba to a treatment clinic in Tokyo when in reality he was staying with relatives in Tokyo nearby the clinic. He also filed expense claims for eight treatment sessions that he did not actually attend. At the request of the JAAF, Fujitsu team management had reviewed Suzuki's expense claims and uncovered the false expenses, following which Suzuki wit...

Bejing, China, 8/23/15 click here for complete results Women's 100 m Heat 7 -0.5 m/s 1. Rosangela Santos (Brazil) - 11.14 - Q 2. English Gardner (U.S.A.) - 11.16 - Q 3. Chisato Fukushima (Japan) - 11.23 - Q Men's 400 m Heat 3 1. LaShawn Merritt (U.S.A.) - 44.51 - Q 2. Javon Francis (Jamaica) - 44.83 - Q 3. Kevin Borlee (Belgium) - 45.01- Q ----- 6. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 45.65 Men's 400 mH Semifinal 3 1. Michael Tinsley (U.S.A.) - 48.47 - Q 2. Nicholas Bett (Kenya) - 48.54 - Q 3. Kariem Hussein (Switzerland) - 48.59 ----- 8. Yuki Matsushita (Japan) - 51.10 Men's 20 km RW 1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Spain) - 1:19:14 - PB 2. Zhen Wang (China) - 1:19:29 3. Benjamin Thorne (Canada) - 1:19:57 - NR ----- 14. Isamu Fujisawa (Japan) - 1:21:51 48. Eiki Takahashi (Japan) - 1:28:30 DNF - Yusuke Suzuki (Japan)

by Brett Larner updated throughout World Championships as start lists are posted Although its medal chances are slim, with three looking solid, a chance for five and even six conceivable, in many events Japan is sending one of its best-ever teams to the Aug. 22-30 Beijing World Championships .  The potential medal count may not be that large, but the real measurement of success will be progress at the next level down as everything in the Japanese industry focuses toward Tokyo 2020.  The stakes are high for Japanese athletes, as in every individual event the top-placing Japanese will secure a place on the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team if they make the top 8 in their final.  Based on the entry lists released by the IAAF on Aug. 15, with the possibility of breakthroughs into the top 10 and in a few cases the magic top 8 these ten events in Beijing are especially worth watching for fans of Japan at home and abroad: Men's 20 km Race Walk: World record holder Yusuke Suzuki ...

by Brett Larner On Aug. 4 the JAAF released the full Japanese team for the 2015 Beijing World Championships later this month.  Men's 20 km racewalk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu) leads the team along with national record holders Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tec AC, women's 100 m and 200 m), Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ., women's 100 m Jr. NR), Asami Chiba (Toho Ginko, women's 400 m), Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project, men's 5000 m), Yuki Yamazaki (SDF Academy, men's 50 km racewalk), Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC, women's javelin throw) and Keisuke Ushiro (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC, men's decathlon) plus 2015 World Youth Games record-setting double 100 m and 200 m gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.), at 16 the youngest-ever member of a Japanese World Championships team.  Full team roster: Sprints and Relays Men's 100 m, 200 m and 4x100 m Relay Kei Takase (Team Fujitsu) - 10.09 -0.1 m/s / 20.14 +1....

http://www.sankei.com/sports/news/150724/spo1507240001-n1.html translated by Brett Larner Multiple people involved with the situation confirmed on July 23 that the race walk course for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that has been in place since Tokyo's initial bid is to undergo changes.  The original plan involved a start and finish at the Olympic Stadium with a circuit course on Aoyama Street, but IAAF officials deemed that the 1.3 km segment on Gaien Nishi Street connecting the stadium and circuit course makes it "difficult to position referees," forcing a revision of the plans. In race walking it is illegal for both feet to be in the air at the same time, and the leading leg must remain straight from the time the heel contacts the ground until the leg is in the vertical position.  In the Olympics nine referees are properly placed to determine by visual inspection whether athletes' form constitutes a violation of either rule. According to an involved party, the new...

by Brett Larner Japan's major midsummer track series, the Hokuren Distance Challenge in four locations across Hokkaido, wrapped up July 16 with the Abashiri Meet.  For the second time in a week , 20 km race walk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu) broke a national record held by teammate Eiki Takahashi , both times outgunning Takahashi to do it.  This time it was Takahashi's 10000 mRW national record, from which Suzuki lopped 8 seconds with a new record of 38:10.23.  12 more seconds to another world record. Other new came in the women's 10000 m, where National Championships 3rd-placer Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) finally succeeded in breaking the Beijing World Championships qualification standard of 32:00.00, taking 3rd in a new PB of 31:48.31 for which she is all but certain to be rewarded with a place on the Beijing team.  Riko Matsuzaki (Sekisui Kagaku) won in a solid PB of 31:44.86, with the top 4 breaking 32 minutes and the top 7 all clearing t...

by Brett Larner After a superb come-from-behind 15:21.07 PB for 2nd at the National Championships two weeks ago , 18-year-old Azusa Sumi (Team Univ. Ent.) did what she needed to do to make the Beijing World Championships team, dropping a 2:59 last 1000 m to go under the 15:20.00 Beijing standard for the first time as she won the Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:17.62.  Sumi ran much of the race with 19-year-old Miyuki Uehara (Team Daiichi Seimei) right on standard pace but needed to bring the kick that took her from 4th to 2nd on the last lap at Nationals into play to go under.  Uehara just missed joining her but likewise marked a big improvement to her PB with a 15:21.40.  Now #2 among juniors worldwide so far this year, Sumi should join Nationals 1st and 3rd placers Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) and Ayuko Suzuki (Team Japan Post), both of whom already had the Beijing standard, on the World Championships team but must wait f...

by Brett Larner Japan's track circuit was busier than usual this weekend with the move of the National Corporate Track and Field Championships from mid-September this year along with time trial meets nationwide as teams prepare for ekiden season.  At the Corporate Championships, Team Kyudenko 's Kenyan ringers Selly Chepyego Kaptich and Paul Tanui were the stars of the show, doubling with wins in the fastest heats of the 5000 m and 10000 m.  Chepyego, the Copenhagen World Half Marathon bronze medalist started things off on Friday night with a 31:38.54 win over Asian Games 10000 m bronze medalist Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), who ran a PB 31:41.80, the best time this year by a Japanese woman, to lead three Japanese women under the Beijing World Championships standard of 32:00.00.  Chepyego returned Sunday to win the 5000 m in 15:14.45 just ahead of ascendant first-year pro Ayuko Suzuki (Team JP Post) whose 15:14.96 was also the best this year by a Japanese woman....

by Brett Larner National champion Hitomi Niiya  (Team Universal Entertainment) ran exactly the race prefigured by her win at June's National Championships and in last year's London Olympics, going out right behind early rabbit Shalane Flanagan  (U.S.A.) in the Moscow World Championships 10000 m, taking the lead after 3000 m and setting the pace all the way to the last lap before finishing 5th in a PB 30:56.70.  In a tearful post-race interview she said, "There's no reason to be at Worlds if you can't medal," but her fearlessness in setting her own pace and her improvement of her standing as all-time third-fastest Japanese for the second time at a major international championships did credit to both her and her coach Yoshio Koide .  Kyushu-based Sally Chepyego  (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) also turned in a PB performance, taking 7th in 31:22.11. In other events, 400 m national champion Yuzo Kanemaru  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) finished last in his qualifying heat bu...

by Brett Larner Yuzo Kanemaru wins the men's 400 m at the 2009 World University Games. Click photo for larger version. What's in a name? Five-time 400 m national champion Yuzo Kanemaru (Hosei Univ.) scored his first world-level title at the 2009 World University Games on July 9th. Kanemaru, whose name can be translated as 'gold circle,' won his heat in each round before taking the final in 45.68, half a second ahead of Austrian Clemens Zeller and Canadian Daniel Harper. In a post-race interview Kanemaru said, "Winning here was the least of my goals, but I'm still feeling it. I don't need any silver or bronze. To me if it isn't gold it doesn't mean anything. This win opens the door to Worlds." Kanemaru will run the 400 m at next month's World Championships in Berlin and hopes to achieve his goal of a sub-45 clocking this season. Hurdler Kazuaki Yoshida turned in another solid run in the men's 400 m hurdles, finishing 2nd in the semifin...