Naohiro Shinada of Japan wins the Long Jump final (© Getty Images)
The Japanese Federation announced the 20 men and 16 women team for the World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy. The bulk of the team was selected from the top finishers in the national junior championships over the last weekend of June.
However, some of the well established stars were also included in the team. For example, Ryuji Ohno who won the 10,000m at the national championships and was thus selected for the Olympic team is also selected for the World Junior Championships team.
Fumi Mitsumura, the defending junior women’s 10,000m champion as well as Naoki Shinada, 2003 World Youth champion at Long Jump were also added to the team.
The hottest athlete at the present time is Asami Tanno, who won the 400m at the 2004 National championships and subsequently set a national record at 400m in the Asian Junior Championships. Furthermore, in the first weekend of July, Tanno, a college freshman, won both 200m and 400m in the national inter-collegiate championships against older competitions.
Fumi Mitsumura, defending World Junior Champion at women’s 10,000m Walk is also rounding into shape just in time for another World Junior Championships, having set a junior national record and won the national inter-collegiate championships both at 10000mWalk.
Here is the list of the 36 track & field athletes with their list of accomplishments
Men
100m
Naoki Tsukahara: The 2003 national inter-high school champion at both 100m and 200m, Tsukahara was second at 100m in the 2004 national junior championships and sixth at 200m in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
200m
Hiroyuki Noda: Second at 200m in the 2004 national junior championships, Noda was fourth in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
Yuichi Shokawa: Third at 200m in the 2003 national junior championships, Shokawa was fourth in the 2004 national junior championships.
400m
Yudai Sasaki: The 2004 national junior champion at 400m, Sasaki recently set personal bests at 400m (46.85) and 200m (21.52).
Kazunori Ota: Second in the 2004 national junior championships at 400m, Ota was 2003 national junior champion at 400m. He was third in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
5000m
Yuki Sato: The 2004 national junior champion at 5000m, Yuki Sato who said, “My foremost goal for the season is the World Junior championships,” set national junior record (8:05.82) at 3000m on June 6.
Satoru Kitamura: Third at 5000m in the 2004 national junior championships, Kitamura has a best of 13:45.86 for the 5000m. He was 24th in the 2004 World Cross Country Championships and third in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
10,000m
Ryuji Ohno: The 2004 national champion in 10000m at age of 19, Ryuji Ohno made a dramatic breakthrough in 2004, improving the personal best from 28:38.35 in 2003 to 27:59.32 at the national championships. Later was a national junior record. His teammate at Asahi Kasei, Kei Ide was 4th at 10000m in Kingston.
Hidekazu Sato: Second at 5000m in the 2004 national junior championships, Hidekazu Sato was 17th in the 2004 World Cross Country Championships. He was the first non-African in the race.
110m Hurdles
Tomoki Nakamura: The 2004 national junior champion at 110mH, Nakamura was third in the Asian junior championships and seventh in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
400m Hurdles
Go Tanabe: The 2004 national junior champion at 400mH, Tanabe was second in the 2003 national junior championships.
Teppei Suzuki: The 2003 national inter-high school champion at 400m and 400mH, Suzuki was second at the 2004 national junior championships at 400mH. He was 2003 national junior champion at 400mH.
10,000m Walk
Yusuke Suzuki: Second in the 2004 all JPN junior walk championships.
Koichiro Morioka: First in the 2004 all JPN junior walk championships.
High Jump
Hikaru Tsuchiya: The 2004 national junior champion at HJ, Tsuchiya was sixth in the 2003 national inter-high school championships and third in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships. He won the national juniors by 12 cm.
Pole Vault
Naoya Kawaguchi: The 2004 national junior champion at PV.
Long Jump
Yuki Imai: Three-time national junior champion at LJ, Imai is also two-time national inter-high school champion and 2004 national inter-collegiate champion. In Kingston, two years ago, Imai was unable to advance to the final.
Naohiro Shinada: The 2003 World Youth champion at LJ, Shinada was second in the 2003 national inter-high school championships. He is also an accomplished sprinter, having won 100m in the junior division of the 2003 national games.
Javelin Throw
Kazunori Onitsuka: The 2004 national junior champion at JT, Onitsuka was the 2003 national inter-high school champion and ninth in the 2004 national inter-collegiate champion.
Decathlon
Daisuke Ikeda: The 2004 national junior champion and national junior record holder at decathlon, Ikeda was second at octathlon in the 2003 national inter-high school championships.
Women
100m
Saori Kitakaze: Two-time national junior champion at 100m, Kitakaze was the 2003 national inter-high school champion as well as 2003 national games champion. She was fifth in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
100m, 200m
Kaoru Matsuda: Third in the 2004 national championships at 200m, Matsuda was fourth at 100m and second at 200m in the 2003 national inter-high school championships. She was fourth at 200m in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
400m
Asami Tanno: The 2004 national champion and national record (52.88) holder at 400m, Asami Tanno is a two-time national junior champion at 400m as well as 2003 national inter-high school champion and 2004 national inter-collegiate champion at both 200m and 400m.
800m
Yuriko Kobayashi: Second at 800m in the 2004 national junior championships.
Akari Kishikawa: Second at 800m in the 2003 national junior championships, Kishikawa was also second at 2003 national inter-high school championships and fourth at 2004 national championships.
1500m
Ayako Uchino: The 2004 national junior champion at 1500m.
3000m
Tomomi Yuda: Second at 1500m in the 2004 national junior championships, Yuda was 6th at 1500m in the national championships and won the Asian junior championships at 3000m.
5000m
Chiaki Iwamoto: The 2004 national junior champion at 5000m, Iwamoto was 7th in the 2004 national championships with 15:27.90.
Yuko Nohara: A bronze medallist at 3000m in the 2003 World Youth Championships, Nohara was second at 5000m in the 2004 national junior championships. She was 11th in the 2004 World Cross Country Championships.
100m Hurdles
Azusa Ichiki: The 2004 national junior champion at 100mH, Ichiki was third in both 2003 national junior championship and 2003 national inter-high school championships.
400m Hurdles
Miki Sawada: The 2004 national junior champion at 400mH.
10,000m Walk
Fumi Mitsumura: Defending World Junior champion, having won the 10000mWalk two years ago in Kingston, Jamaica, Mitsumura is the national junior record holder at 3000mW, 5000mW and 10000mW (45:17.13). Asian junior champion at 10000mW, Mitsumura was the 2002 national inter-high school champion and also holds high school record at 3000mW, and collegiate record at 5000mW and 10000mW. She is a 2004 national inter-collegiate champion.
Sumiko Suzuki: Second to Mitsumura at 2004 JPN junior walk championships, Suzuki also walked below the previous collegiate record. She was third in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
Pole Vault
Yayoi Minamino: Two-time national junior champion at PV, Minamino set national junior record (4.10m) at the 2003 national games. She was second in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
Javelin Throw
Yuki Ebihara: The 2004 national junior champion at JT, Ebihara was 6th in the 2004 national championships and second in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
Emika Yoshida: The 2003 national inter-high school champion at JT, Emika Yoshida was second in the national championships with the junior national record of 54.13m. She was third in the 2004 national inter-collegiate championships.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
