Japanese team for the Asian Games

The multisport Asian Games opened in Busan, Korea last weekend, with the Athletics competition scheduled to take place from 7 – 14 October. As part of our build up to the last major international track and field of 2002, Ken Nakamura gives us a biographical appraisal of the Japanese track and field team, which has been selected for the Games.

A team of thirty six men and thirty women will represent Japan in the Athletics events in the Asian Games in Busan, Korea.  The best chance for Japanese gold rest in the 100m (Nobuharu Asahara), 200m (Shingo Suetsugu), 5000m, 10000m (Tomoo Tsubota), 4x100m relay, Hammer Throw (Koji Murofushi) and the women's 5000m/10000m (Kayoko Fukushi). 

Here are short biographies of the medal contenders on the team.  

Nobuharu Asahara:  The best Japanese long jumper/sprinter in the early nineties, Asahara is now concentrating on 100m.  He has set three national records at 100m: 10.19 in 1993, 10.14 in 1996 and 10.08 in 1997.  Formerly based in Germany, he is now based in Austin, Texas.  Last year, in Oslo, he recorded the personal best of 10.02. 

Shingo Suetsugu:  The heir apparent to Koji Ito who won both the 100m and 200m at the Asian Games four years ago in Bangkok, Suetsugu has reportedly
recorded sub-20 seconds 200m in training.  A semi-finalist in both the Sydney Olympics and Edmonton World championships at 200m, Suetsugu is scheduled to run 200m, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay in Busan.  Suetsugu who won the 200m at East Asian Games, has recorded 10.05 for 100m this year.  Susumu Takano, his coach, said: "I won't be surprised if he broke 20 seconds barrier anytime." 

Toshihiro Iwasa:  Second in the national championships at 5000m, Toshihiro
Iwasa was second at the 10,000m in the 1998 Asian Championships. He is coached by Tadasu Kawano, who turned the unheralded Takayuki Inubushi into the national marathon record holder.  

Tomoo Tsubota:  Won the last four 10,000m titles at the Asian Games.  Tomoo Tsubota, who has recorded 27:51.85 this year, and is expected to continue the winning tradition for Japan.   Training with Zakayo Ngatho, his Kenyan team mate at Konica track team, Tsubota made dramatic improvements recently. In March, he ran away from the best half marathon field in Yamaguchi, Japan.       

In the last three editions of the Asian Games, the Japanese has finished
second at the marathon each time. As the gold medallist at the Asian Games
will be automatically selected for the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, Ryuji Takei and Koji Shimizu would like to bring back the top medal. 

Ryuji Takei:  A precocious talent, having won both 1500m and 5000m in
inter-high school championships, as well as 5000m and 10,000m in the
inter-collegiate championships, Takei was also a silver medallist at 10,000m
at the World University Games in 1991.  He first broke the 2:10 marathon barrier
(2:09:23) in 2000 Lake Biwa marathon, which was his personal best until
this year, when he improved to 2:08:35 again in the Lake Biwa marathon. He is coached by the legendary marathon runner, Toshihiko Seko.    

Koji Shimizu:  Seventh in the marathon at the 1999 World Championships in
Sevilla, Koji Shimizu was second to Gezahenge Abera in the 2001 Fukuoka
marathon in 2:09:28, and thus selected for the Asian Games.  He won the 1997
Tokyo marathon, and recorded a personal best of 2:09:00 two years later.
Earlier this year, Shimizu’s track team lost corporate sponsorship and although
he is sponsored through the Asian Games, perhaps more than anybody else on
the national team, he needs to win a medal to keep his career going. 

Dai Tamesue:  World 400m Hurdles Bronze medallist in Edmonton, Tamesue is also a national record holder, having set the records in both the semi-final and
the final (47.89) stages. He holds national age group records with his career progression highlighted by a junior high school record (21.36 for 200m), national high school record (45.94 for 400m, 49.09for 400mH), national junior record (49.09 for 400mH), national collegiate record (47.89 for 400m), and national record (47.89 at 400mH).  “I consider anything other than a gold medal a
failure, “ confirmed Tamesue about his prospects for the Asian Games.

Yuki Yamazaki:  National junior record holder (1:20:47 at 20Km Walk). An
eighteen years old Yuki Yamazaki was fifth at the 10,000m Walk in Kingston
 at the IAAF World Junior Championships earlier this year. 

Satoshi Yanagisawa:  Seventh at the 20Km Walk in Edmonton, Satoshi Yanagisawa recorded three national records at 20Km Walk.  He was also second at the East Asian Games in 2001. 

Fumiaki Kobayashi:  Fumiaki Kobayashi who was third four years ago in
Bangkok, set his third national record of 5.71m at the Pole Vault in July.  It was his third national record, having also set previous marks in 1997 and 1999. 

Koji Murofushi:  The 2001 World silver medallist at the Hammer Throw, Murofushi won the Grand Prix final in Paris and finished second in the World Cup in Madrid this year.  Murofushi who also won the earlier Asian championships this year,  is the defending Asian Games' champion, having won four years ago in Bangkok with a national record.  His father, Shigenobu Murofushi is a five-time champion at the Asian Games. 

Women: 

Kazue Kakinuma:  1992, was Kakinuma’s annus mirabilis, as she won the 100m,
200m and 400m at the inter-high school championships and finsihed sixth at 400m in the World Junior Championships.  She also set national records at both
the 200m and 400m in the same year.  Nearly a decade later and after several years of injury problems, Kakinuma set another national record at 400m in the 2001 East Asian Games when she finished third. 

Miho Sugimori:  800m gold medallist at 2002 Asian Championships, Sugimori is steadily closing on the national record after shifting her attention to the two lap event this year.  Formerly a 200m sprinter, Sugimori won high school, national junior and collegiate championships (twice) at 400m. This year, Sugimori recorded an Asian record at 1000m. 

Kayoko Fukushi:  A national record holder at both 3000m (8:44.40) and 5000m
(14:55.21), a 20 years old Kayoko Fukushi won both 5000m and 10,000m in the
national championships this year.  Last year, Fukushi recorded a national
junior records at 3000m (8:52.3), 5000m (15:10.23) and 10,000m (31:42.05).
This year she improved further and became the first Japanese to dip under
15 minutes barrier at 5000m, an event in which she was fourth at the 2000 World
Juniors in Santiago.

Harumi Hiroyama:  A former national record holder at 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m, Hiroyama was fourth at the 10,000m in the 1999 World Championships. Recently, she has made a successful transition to the marathon, having finished second in both 2000 and 2002 Osaka Ladies marathon.  Her personal best at the marathon is 2:22:56. 

Hiromi Ominami:  One half of the fastest marathon twin sisters, Hiromi
Ominami was second in 2002 Nagoya Women's marathon in personal best of
2:27:29, which clinched her a spot on the Asian Games marathon team.  Her
twin sister Takami was 37th in Edmonton and won the 2002 Rotterdam marathon in 2:23:43. 

Yvonne Kanazawa:  Seven time national champion at 100mH, Kanazawa is the  dominant 100m hurdler in Japan.  She has also set seven national records  culminating in a 13.00 second clocking.  Kanazawa finished sixth in the 1998 Asian Championships before winning that particular gold in Sri Lanka this year.
Four years ago in Bangkok, Kanazawa was fifth in the Asian Games.   

Makiko Yoshida:  A bronze medallist in the Asian Championships this summer at 400mH (she was fourth in the 400m as well), Yoshida later set a national record at 400mH in the Super Track & Field meet on 16 September.  It was the fourth national record of Yoshida’s career. She also won the national championships at both 400m and 400mH this year.

Yoko Ota:  Defending Asian Games High Jump champion, Yoko Ota recently improved her personal best to 1.95m, 1cm short of the national record.  Ota, who still holds national junior record at 1.93m, was 11th in Sydney Olympics after equalling her personal best in the qualifying round. 

Miki Imai:  The national record holder at High Jump at 1.96m, Imai competed at the World championships of 1999 and 2001.  She was fourth in Bangkok four years ago, as well as at the Asian championships in Colombo this year.   She won the East Asian Games title in 2001.  

Masumi Ono:  Ono won a silver medal at the Pole Vault four years ago in Bangkok with a national record. In August of this year, Ono also won a silver medal in the Asian championships, equalling her own national record in the process.  She also holds the national indoor record.

Maho Hanaoka:  A national record holder at both long jump and triple jump,
Hanaoka has won both events at the national championships in the last
three years.  Four years ago in Bangkok at the Asian Games, Hanaoka was seventh in triple jump. 

Masumi Aya:  A former Javelin thrower, Masumi Aya turned seriously to the
Hammer Throw while at Chukyo University where Shigenobu Murofushi coaches.  She holds the collegiate record (64.43m), national junior record (54.59m) and
has set new national records five times culminating in 66.27m in May. She
was fourth in the 2001 East Asian Games. 

Takako Miyake:  Three time national champion and the national record holder
at Javelin Throw, Miyake was 8th in 1995 World University Games. She was also second at the 2001 East Asian Games. 

Full Team List –

Name                    Event           PR/Season Best
Nobuharu Asahara        100m            10.02/10.05
Nobuhiro Tajima         100m            10.13/10.13
Hisashi Miyazaki        200m            20.65/20.65
Shingo Suetsugu         200m            20.26/20.37
Jun Osakada             400m            45.05/46.31
Kenji Tabata            400m            45.69/45.90
Hiroyasu Tsuchie        4x100Relay      10.25/10.34
Masayuki Okusako        4x400Relay      46.06/46.30

Hiroshi Sasano          800m            1:49.12/1:49.12
Fumikazu Kobayashi      1500m           3:40.52/3:40.52
Kazuyoshi Tokumoto      1500m           3:42.14/3:43.80

Toshihiro Iwasa         5000m           13:32.09/13:32.72
Tomohiro Seto           5000m           13:30.74/13:33.01
Tomoo Tsubota           10000m          27:51.85/27:51.85
Atsushi Sato            10000m          28:13.81/28:23.64

Ryuji Takei             Marathon        2:08:35/2:08:35
Koji Shimizu            Marathon        2:09:00/2:09:28(Dec 01) 

Satoru Tanigawa         110mH           13.55/13.94 
Dai Tamesue             400mH           47.89/48.69
Ken Yoshizaawa          400mH           48.98/48.98
Yoshitaka Iwamizu       3000mSC         8:26.77/8:39.12
Yasunori Uchitomi       3000mSC         8:26.48/8:41.52

Yuki Yamazaki           20Km Walk       1:20:43/1:20:43
Satoshi Yanagisawa      20Km Walk       1:19:29/1:20:57

Takahiro Uchida         HJ              2.27m/2.27m
Satoru Yasuda           PV              5.50m/5.50m
Fumiaki Kobayashi       PV              5.71m/5.71m
Shin-ichi Terano        LJ              7.99m/7.87m
Masaki Morinaga         LJ              8.25m/ 7.87m
Takashi Komatsu         TJ              16.88m/16.37m

Satoshi Hatase          SP              17.40m/16.91m
Shigeo Hatakeyama       DT              56.18m/54.04m
Koji Murufushi          HT              83.47m/83.33m
Hiroaki Doi             HT              71.99m/71.99m
Yukifumi Murakami       JT              80.59m/78.22m

Masatoshi Ishizawa      Decathlon       7644/7644

Women
Motoka Arai             100m/200m       11.45/11.61  23.46/23.70
Kaori Sakagami          100m            11.42/11.45
Ayumi Suzuki            200m            23.91/24.17
Mayu Kida               400m            53.47/53.47
Kazue Kakinuma          400m            52.95/53.56
Tomoko Ishida           4x100mRelay     11.55/11.55

Tomoko Matsushima       800m            2:03.21/2:04.05
Miho Sugimori           800m            2:03.22/2:03.22
Ikuko Tamura            1500m           4:10.39/4:10.39
Yoshiko Ichikawa        1500m/5000m     4:13.70/4:18.03 15:20.53/15:25.16

Kayoko Fukushi          5000m/10000m    14:55.21/14:55.21 
31:42.05/31:55.59
Takako Kotorida         10000m          31:41.22/31:57.77

Harumi Hiroyama         Marathon        2:22:56/2:24:34
Hiromi Ominami          Marathon        2:27:29/2:27:29

Yvonne Kanazawa         100mH           13.00/13.06
Akiko Morimoto          100mH           13.24/13.24
Makiko Yoshida          400mH           56.69/56.69

Takako Terui            20Km Walk       1:32:44/1:32:54

Yoko Ota                HJ              1.95m/1.95m
Miki Imai               HJ              1.96m/1.92m
Takayo Kondo            PV              4.20m/4.20m
Masumi Ono              PV              4.30m/4.30m
Maho Hanaoka            LJ/TJ           6.82m/6.60m  14.04m/13.56m
Kumiko Ikeda            LJ              6.78m/6.41m

Yoko Toyonaga           SP              16.73m/16.73m
Chinatsu Mori           SP              16.87m/16.87m
Yuka Murofushi          DT/HT           56.84m/56.65m   61.91m/61.91m
Masumi Aya              HT              66.27m/66.27m
Takako Miyake           JT              61.15m/60.42m

Yuki Nakata             Heptathlon      5862/5637