Koji Murofushi of Japan finishes third in the men's hammer throw (© Getty Images)
Perhaps because the Olympic berth was on the line, many athletes rose to the occasion at the Japanese national Championships over the weekend 4 - 6 June in Fuse stadium in Tottori.
Four national records were set. Nine athletes (Shingo Suetsugu at 100m, Shinji Takahira at 200m, Mitsuhiro Sato at 400m, Dai Tamesue at 400mH, Yoshitaka Iwamizu at 3000mSC, Daichi Sawano at Pole Vault, Shin-ichi Terano at Long Jump, Takanori Sugibayashi at Triple Jump, and Kayoko Fukushi at both women’s 5000m and 10,000m) secured the Olympic berth, having cleared the Olympic “A” standard and won the national championships.
Murofushi – 82.09
As expected, Koji Murofushi the World bronze medallist who was already selected for the Olympics won the Hammer Throw, extending his winning streak to ten, thus tying the record held by his father (1974 to 1983).
“I want to keep on winning,” said Murofushi, who uncharacteristically recorded out of sector fouls in his first and third throws. His second, fourth and fifth throws did not even reach 80m. However, as a true champion ought to be able to do, he finally put it all together on his final throw, recording 82.09m.
Easy 100m win for Suetsugu
Shingo Suetsugu who having won a World Championhips medal last summer was already pre-selected for Athens (200m), won the showdown at 100m.
In his first individual race of the year, Suetsugu recorded 10.13 in his heat. Nobuharu Asahara run even faster in the heat, recording 10.09. In the final, it was all Suetsugu, who had good start and easily won in 10.10. “It was my first race of the season. I just wanted to win and avoid injury.” Asahara finished second with 10.20, while Hiroyasu Tsuchie was ecstatic with his third place finish with the “A” standard time. “I would like to run a memorable race in the Olympics. I hope a good result will follow,” concluded Suetsugu.
Tamesue - below par but still runs 48.74!
Dai Tamesue, Edmonton bronze medallist, was not 100% for the nationals, having a little problem with his lower back recently. Undaunted, Tamesue went out hard from the start and won easily with 48.74.
“If I went after a bronze in Athens, I could come out empty handed. So I will go after the gold. Perhaps a medal will follow,” said Tamesue, who wants to redeem himself in the Olympics, for four years ago he fell on the 9th hurdle and went out in the first round.
The national records were set by Daichi Sawano at Pole Vault, Miho Sugimori at women’s 800m, Yuki Nakata in Heptathlon and Sakie Nobuoka at women’s 200m. However, only Sawano who won the Pole Vault with 5.80m cleared the Olympic “A” standard and was automatically selected for the Olympic team.
Sawano is on a roll this season, having set a national indoor record in Reno in January. “I want to gain an Olympic berth with this impressive performance,” said Sawano who did exactly that. “In Athens I want to finish in top 8,” concluded Sawano who holds the national record at every age level.
National record demolished in women’s 800m
With a sub 2 minutes time in mind Miho Sugimori, a national indoor record holder, went off fast from the start in women’s 800m. Sugimori passed 200m in 28.1 (split from Yoshimasa Noguchi) and 400m in 58.15. The national record holder Miki Nishimura tried to stay close. However, by 600m (1:28.5 by Noguchi) Sugimori was completely alone. She annihilated the outdoor record (2:02.10) with 2:00.46, which is also faster than her own indoor record (2:00.78). “I am not satisfied, because I was looking for one minute something. I must work on the last 200m,” said Sugimori who missed entire 2003 outdoor season with injury.
Competitive men’s 400m
With three “A” standard runners and two “B” standard runners looking for Olympic berths, the men’s 400m was one of the most competitive race in the national championships. Yuki Yamaguchi who has the fastest time in this season, 45.31, went out fast. In the middle part of the race, Jun Osakada made his move. It was Mitsuhiro Sato, the defending national champion and Yamaguchi who fought it out in the final 100 and lunged together at the finish. In the photo finish, the verdict went to Sato who said, “Because I went out in the heat in Paris, I want to advance to the semi-final in Athens.”
Fukushi’s voyage to Athens confirmed
Kayoko Fukushi (5000m and 10000m), Yuka Murofushi (DT and HT) and Maho Hanaoka (LJ and TJ) won two national titles. However, only Fukushi was automatically selected for the team, having cleared “A” standard in both events.
In the 10,000m Fukushi led from the start and by 600m she was already running alone. She was as much as 16 seconds ahead of the chasing pack at one point. However, with 2000m to go, Harumi Hiroyama started chasing Fukushi with Megumi Tanaka (second in Nagoya with 2:24:47) in hot pursuit. Both missed making the Olympic marathon team and were trying to make the 10,000m team. At the end Tanaka passed Hiroyama and came within 2 seconds of Fukushi who won in 31:32.09.
In the 5000m, Fukushi and Lucy Wangui, a Kenyan living in Japan, pushed the pace together, setting up for other runners to shoot for the “A” standard. Only Mari Ozaki was able to stay close. However, with three laps to go, Ozaki fell behind and failed to clear the “A” standard. Down the back-straight for the next to the last time Wangui pulled away from Fukushi, who won the national championships for being the first Japanese, and thus made a team in both events.
Having won the Discus throw on the first day, Yuka Murofushi upset Masumi Aya, the national record holder at Hammer Throw, on the final day. Although she could not clear the “A” standard in either event, her chance in the Hammer looks promising. Coming into the season with the best of 62.24m, she has now improved it to 66.12m.
The showdown between Maho Hanaoka and Kumiko Ikeda in women’s long jump was disappointing. Hanaoka took the lead early with 6.67m and never relinquished it. Ikeda got close on her final attempt when she jumped 6.64m, but they failed to break the “A” standard.
Athens top 8 aim for Iwamizu
In the 3000m Steeplechase, having already cleared the “A” standard in the Worlds last year, national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu perhaps was only thinking of victory. He followed Yasunori Uchitomi, until one and a half lap to go, at which point Iwamizu pulled away and easily won the national for the fourth straight year. “I was eleventh in Paris, so I would like to finish in top 8 in Athens,” concluded Iwamizu.
Takanori Sugibayashi won the Triple Jump with 16.77m on his last attempt and clinched the Olympic berth for the second time said, “It would have been even better if I jumped 16.77m on my first attempt.” He has been working on how to make the best jump in the earlier rounds.
Three sprint hurdlers for Athens?
Two high hurdlers – Satoru Tanigawa, and Masato Naito – already had the “A” standard, and thus a victory would have secured the Olympic berth. However, it was Tasuku Tanonaka, who has been consistent this season but has not cleared “A” standard, who pulled away from Tanigawa and Naito in the final metres. He won in 13.65. Tanigawa was 2/100 seconds behind, while Naito was another 1/100 second behind. Tanonaka must clear the “A” standard, so three high hurdlers can make a trip to Athens.
The men’s 200m was even closer. Nineteen years old Shinji Takahira took over the lead in the home-straight, but Ryo Matsuda closed hard over the final meters. They were both timed 20.59, however, the photo showed Takahira first and thus he was given automatic selection for the Olympic berth.
The women’s 100m saw Motoka Kojima (Arai) and Kaori Sakagami share the podium. However, their time 11.39 was far from the “A” standard. They most likely will be looking to go to Athens as a part of relay team, which set a national record of 43.77 in the Osaka GP.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
with assistance by Akihiro Onishi
Results:
Men
100m 1.0m/s
1) Shingo Suetsugu 10.10
2) Nobuharu Asahara 10.20
3) Hiroyasu Tsuchie 10.21
200m 1.5m/s
1) Shinji Takahira 20.59
2) Ryo Matsuda 20.59
3) Yusuke Omae 20.81
400m
1) Mitsuhiro Sato 45.70
2) Yuki Sato 45.72
3) Jun Osakada 45.99
800m
1) Naoto Suzuki 1:49.23
2) Akinori Mori 1:49.49
3) Yushi Nakata 1:49.55
1500m
1) Jun Tsuji 3:45.67
2) Yukihiro Motoda 3:46.16
3) Fumikazu Kobayashi 3:46.45
5000m
1) Willy Kirui (KEN) 13:28.43
2) Josphat M Ndambiri (KEN) 13:28.64
3) James Mwangi (KEN) 13:30.95
4) Philip Mosima (KEN) 13:36.59
5) Kazuyoshi Tokumoto 13:40.69
6) Tomohiro Seto 13:41.24
10000m
1) Martin Mathathi (KEN) 27:41.09
2) Daniel Njenga (KEN) 27:58.57
3) Ryuji Ohno 27:59.32 National Junior Record
4) Koichiro Nagata 28:00.12
5) Atsushi Sato 28:01.05
110mH 0.9m/s
1) Tasuku Tanonaka 13.65
2) Satoru Tanigawa 13.67
3) Masato Naito 13.68
400mH
1) Dai Tamesue 48.74
2) Ken Yoshizawa 49.63
3) Hideaki Kawamura 49.66
3000mSC
1) Yoshitaka Iwamizu 8:30.51
2) Yasunori Uchitomi 8:38.10
3) Masataka Inaka 8:41.23
HJ
1) Satoru Kubota 2.21m
2) Takahiro Uchida 2.18m
3) Yoshihiko Edo 2.18m
PV
1) Daichi Sawano 5.80m National Record
2) Manabu Yokoyama 5.50m
3) Masafumi Moribe 5.30m
LJ
1) Shin-ichi Terano 8.20m (1.8m/s)
2) Shigeru Tagawa 7.90m (1.9m/s)
3) Kazushige Inadomi 7.84m (1.1m/s)
TJ
1) Takanori Sugibayashi 16.77m (1.6m/s)
2) Takashi Komatsu 16.28 (2.1m/s)
3) Kazuyoshi Ishikawa 16.26m (1.7m/s)
DT
1) Shigeo Hatakeyama 55.19m
2) Shiro Kobayashi 51.30m
3) Keita Akimoto 50.21m
SP
1) Yohei Murakawa 17.94m
2) Satoshi Hatase 17.76m
3) Haruka Niibori 16.96m
HT
1) Koji Murofushi 82.09m
2) Hiroaki Doi 69.26m
3) Takashi Usui 65.07m
JT
1) Yukifumi Murakami 79.00m
2) Kazuki Yamamoto 74.52m
3) Kiyoshi Ishiba 72.99m
Decathlon
1) Hiromasa Tanaka 7364 (10.95, 7.20m, 11.69m, 1.87m, 50.94, 15.60, 36.80m, 5.00m, 58.81m, 4:57.34)
2) Shigenobu Kakizaki 7125
Women
100m 1.1m/s
1) Kaori Sakagami & Motoka Kojima 11.39
3) Tomoko Ishida 11.45
4) Ayumi Suzuki 11.51
5) Sakie Nobuoka 11.56
200m Final 0.4m/s
1) Sakie Nobuoka 23.33 National Record
2) Ayumi Suzuki 23.79
3) Kaoru Matsuda 24.11
400m
1) Asami Tanno 53.62
2) Satomi Kubokura 54.35
3) Mayu Kida 55.29
4) Mika Kobayashi 55.33
800m
1) Miho Sugimori 2:00.46
2) Saori Yamashita 2:06.62
3) Miki Nishimura 2:07.41
1500m
1) Ikumi Watanabe 4:18.39
2) Minori Hayakari 4:18.41
3) Megumi Yoshino 4:18.46
5000m
1) Lucy Wangui 15:00.08
2) Kayoko Fukushi 15:05.07
3) Mari Ozaki 15:14.98
4) Ayumi Hashimoto 15:18.88
5) Hiromi Ominami 15:20.75
6) Yoshiko Ichikawa 15:24.92
7) Megumi Tanaka 15:27.43
10000m
1) Kayoko Fukushi 31:32.09
2) Megumi Tanaka 31:34.01
3) Harumi Hiroyama 31:34.08
4) Tomoko Hatori 31:38.59
5) Yuki Saito 31:41.49
6) Mari Ozaki 31:47.47
7) Hiromi Ominami 31:55.32
8) Ayumi Hashimoto 32:14.51
9) Yoko Shibui 32:17.72
100mH 1.3m/s
1) Kumiko Ikeda 13.20
2) Yvonne Kanazawa 13.28
3) Sayuri Kawakami 13.49
400mH
1) Makiko Yoshida 57.31
2) Satomi Kubokura 57.82
3) Mie Osakada 58.30
HJ
1) Miki Imai 1.83m
2) Yoko Hannicutt 1.83m
3) Chinami Sadahiro 1.80m
3) Miyuki Aoyama 1.80m
PV
1) Takayo Kondo 4.30m
2) Mami Nakano 4.20m
3) Masumi Ono 4.10m
LJ
1) Maho Hanaoka 6.67m (2.9m/s)
2) Kumiko Ikeda 6.64m (2.3m/s)
3) Yuka sato 6.21m (2.4m/s)
TJ
1) Maho Hanaoka 13.42m (1.1m/s)
2) Fumiyo Yoshida 13.34m (1.1m/s)
3) Hiroko Imamura 13.00m (0.6m/s)
DT
1) Yuka Murofushi 56.36m
2) Tomoko Yamaguchi 51.41m
SP
1) Chinatsu Mori 17.91m
2) Yoko Toyonaga 17.57m
3) Sumi Ichioka 16.79m
HT
1) Yuka Murofushi 66.12m New Champ record
2) Masumi Aya 63.82m
3) Yasuko Kaneko 56.16m
JT
1) Harumi Yamamoto 54.48m
2) Emika Yoshida 54.13m National Junior Record
3) Misa Nakano 53.65m
Heptathlon
1) Yuki Nakata 5962 NR (13.97, 1.75m, 11.74m, 25.02, 6.41m, 43.16m, 2:19.67)
2) Sayoko Sato 5693
