Skip to main content

Japanese Olympic Track Results - Aug. 17

by Brett Larner

Men's 10000 m
Waseda University senior Kensuke Takezawa was a surprise start in the men's 10000 m after being out of competition from January to June with severe injuries and scratching in the Japanese National Track and Field Championships 10000 m in June. Takezawa, who set a PB of 27:45.59 at last year's Cardinal Invitational, was clearly still far off his peak form, never making any attempt to go with competitors of comparable ability but running steadily and finishing 28th in 28:23.28, a creditable 28.5 seconds faster than his time from last summer's Osaka World Track and Field Championships when he was in excellent condition. Takezawa afterwards described the Olympic race as "a learning experience."

5000 m national record and 30 km world record holder Takayuki Matsumiya had a dismal run. Despite having coming close to the national record in this year's Cardinal Invitational, where he ran 27:41.75, winning the National Championships 10000 m in 27:41.27, and predicting that he would finish in the top 10 at the Olympics, Matsumiya began the 10000 m in last place and spent much of the race close to that position. He briefly moved up to run with Takezawa but again faded, ultimately finishing 31st of 35 finishers in 28:39.77.

Both Takezawa and Matsumiya are entered in the 5000 m.

Women's 400 m Hurdles
National record holder Satomi Kubokura had a strong showing in the first heat of the women's 400 m hurdles, running a season best 55.82 to finish 3rd and advance to the semifinals.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr