japan running news

Naoko Takahashi completes the lineup for the 2000 Sydney Olympic team at that spring's Nagoya International Women's Marathon. Victory interview below.

A minivan carrying staff and athletes from the DeNA corporate men's team was involved in a traffic accident June 10 while en route from Kanagawa to a training camp in Sugadaira, Nagano. According to a team representative, the minivan collided with a cargo truck, but the accident did not result in any serious injuries. The team members will have their physical conditions monitored while remaining in Sugadaira. DeNA executive advisor Toshihiko Seko is currently focusing on his duties as JAAF marathon development project leader and was not in the van at the time of the accident. With track races set to make a return in July after months of cancelations due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, corporate teams have begun to congregate in Sugadaira again to make use of its moderately high altitudes to get in base mileage. The DeNA team was set to begin its training today at between 1300 and 1500 m elevation in Sugadaira. The accident came as a surprise setback on the very first day o...

The DeNA Running Academy announced on June 10 that it will add a women's U-15 group aimed at junior high school students to its program beginning in August. Outsourcing the coaching to the Daiichi Seimei women's corporate team, the Tokyo branch of the program will be led by 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics marathoner Tomomi Tanaka , with former 5000 m national record holder Yasuko Harada handling the Hiratsuka program branch. Tanaka, who just retired from competition in February, commented, "I want to help develop athletes who can believe in the growth they are making toward achieving their dreams, and who will have the courage to take on the big challenges. I hope that this experience will help me continue to grow alongside them." The program is targeted toward girls in the first and second year of junior high school. Participants will be selected from among online applicants. For more information please see the program's website . source article: https://h...

https://tokyo2020.org/en/news/positioning-principles-and-roadmap-to-the-games-following-postponement

Amos Kurgat and Ruth Chepngetich lead last year's edition of Japan's only World Athletics gold label half marathon.

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey...

In a world where slander and abuse run freely on the Internet, words have become a deadly weapon that can end someone's life. 1991 marathon world champion Hiromi Taniguchi , 60, saw his own life change dramatically when he uttered a single phrase after finishing 8th in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics men's marathon. The words he said right after finishing, "I had a little whoopsie-daisy!" have become part of folklore as the good-natured reaction of someone who simply lost their race, but in the years since then they've become in their own way a cross that Taniguchi has had to bear. We talked directly with Taniguchi, now a professor at Miyazaki University, to find out what impact those Olympic Games now 28 years distant had upon his life and fate. Taniguchi teaches at Miyazaki University three times a week. His classes and appearances at marathon-related events have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus crisis. "Everything on the schedule this year has been...

Eri Yamaguchi , Masako Chiba , Junko Ichikawa and more try to make it onto the 2000 Sydney Olympic team at the 1999 Tokyo International Women's Marathon. Parts 2~4 below.