japan running news

by Brett Larner Day three of competition at the IAAF World Junior Championships was a big one for Japan, with two individual medals and a near miss on a third.  In the men's 400 m Nobuya Kato and Kaisei Yui made history with their runs, the first time two Japanese athletes had qualified for a world-level final, and Kato took it one step further when he ran 46.17 for silver behind winner Machel Cedenio (Trinidad and Tobago).  Yui, who ran a PB 46.68 to make the final, was 7th in 47.08 between two American athletes.  In the men's long jump, Shotaro Shiroyama (Japan) jumped 7.83 m to unexpectedly win bronze, with teammate Kodai Sakuma 5th in 7.71 m.  Chinese athletes Jianan Wang and Qing Lin went 1-2, Wang winning with a jump of 8.08 m.  In the women's 3000 m Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu , the daughter of Japanese and Kenyan parents, ran a 6-second PB of 9:02.85 but came up just over 2 more seconds short of the podium as she was beaten by American Mary Cain i...

by Brett Larner photo courtesy of David Monti, Race Results Weekly Asian junior record holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) brought Japan its first medal of the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, taking bronze in 10.34 (-0.6) behind Americans Kendal Williams and Trayvon Bromell .  Kiryu gave the nation a scare by barely making it to the final when he finished 4th in his semi-final.  In both the semi and final he displayed problems with the second half of his race, but what he had on the day proved enough for him to get on the podium and join past World Juniors medalists like Shota Iizuka and Genki Dean in the Japanese books. Further history was made when both Nobuya Kato and Kaisei Yui got through the semis to make the men's 400 m final, the first time two Japanese athletes have ever made a world-level final.  Both won their opening heats yesterday.  In semi-final 1, Yui ran a PB 46.68 to get into the final on time.  Kato, running semi-final 2, came...