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London Olympics Athletics Day Two - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

The big race of the second day of Olympic track and field competition was of course the historic men's 10000 m, which saw training partners Mo Farah (U.K.) and Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) go 1-2 to give the U.K. its first-ever Olympic 10000 m gold and the U.S. its first men's 10000 m medal since the Tokyo Olympics.  Ethiopia's Tariku Bekele claimed bronze over his brother Kenenisa Bekele, with Saitama-based Bitan Karoki, a graduate of Hiroshima's Sera H.S. who now runs for Team S&B, taking 5th to land as the top Kenyan after losing out to the superior closing speed of the top four.  Two-time Japanese 10000 m national champion Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), the only Japanese man in the race, ran up to expectations, sitting mid-pack through the slow early stages before falling away once the true action began and crossing the finish line in 28:44.06 for 22nd place.

100 m national champion Takayuki Kishimoto (Keio Univ.) had better luck, bringing the Japanese performance of the day as he ran a PB of 10.07 to take second in heat six behind world leader Yohan Blake (Jamaica) and advance to the semi-final.  Past national champion Masashi Eriguchi (Team Osaka Gas) ran only 10.30 in heat two and failed to move on to the next round.  400 m national champion Yuzo Kanemaru (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and women's pole vault national record holder Tomomi Abiko (Shiga Lake Stars AC) likewise did not advance out of the opening rounds.

2012 London Olympics Athletics Day Two
London, England, 8/4/12
click here for complete results
click here for triathlon results

Men's 10000 m
1. Mohamed Farah (U.K.) - 27:30.42
2. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 27:30.90
3. Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia) - 27:31.43
4. Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - 27:32.44
5. Bitan Karoki (Kenya) - 27:32.94
6. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 27:33.51
7. Teklemariam Medhin (Eritrea) - 27:34.76
8. Gebregziabher Gebremariam (Ethiopia) - 27:36.34
9. Polat Kemboi Arikan (Turkey) - 27:38.81 - PB
10. Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (Uganda) - 27:39.22
-----
22. Yuki Sato (Japan) - 28:44.06

Men's 20 km Race Walk
1. Ding Chen (China) - 1:18:46 - OR
2. Erick Barrondo (Guatemala) - 1:18:57
3. Zhen Wang (China) - 1:19:25
4. Zelin Cai (China) - 1:19:44
5. Miguel Angel Lopez (Spain) - 1:19:49 - PB
-----
18. Isamu Fujisawa (Japan) - 1:21:48
25. Takumi Saito (Japan) - 1:22:43
36. Yusuke Suzuki (Japan) - 1:23:53

Women's Triathlon
1. Nicola Spirig (Switzerland) - 1:59:48
2. Lisa Norden (Sweden) - 1:59:48
3. Erin Densham (Australia) - 1:59:50
4. Sarah Groff (U.S.A.) - 2:00:00
5. Helen Jenkins (U.K.) - 2:00:19
-----
14. Mariko Adachi (Japan) - 2:02:04
34. Juri Ide (Japan) - 2:04:43
39. Ai Ueda (Japan) - 2:06:34

Men's 400 m Heat Five
1. Chris Brown (Bahamas) - 45.40 - Q
2. Tony McQuay (U.S.A.) - 45.48 - Q
3. Nigel Levine (U.K.) - 45.58 - Q
4. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 46.01

Men's 100 m Heat Two
1. Justin Gatlin (U.S.A.) - 9.97 - Q
2. Derrick Atkins (Bahamas) - 10.22 - Q
3. Rondel Sorrillo (Trinidad & Tobago) - 10.23 - Q
-----
6. Masashi Eriguchi (Japan) - 10.30

Men's 100 m Heat Six
1. Yohan Blake (Jamaica) - 10.00 - Q
2. Ryota Yamagata (Japan) - 10.07 - Q, PB
3. Bingtian Su (China) - 10.19 - Q
4. Antoine Adams (St. Kitts & Nevis) - 10.22 - q

Women's Pole Vault Qualification Round Group A
1. Yarisley Silva (Cuba) - 4.55 - q
2. Jennifer Suhr (U.S.A.) - 4.55 - q
3. Lisa Ryzih (Germnay) - 4.55 - q
-----
11. Tomomi Abiko (Japan) - 4.25

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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