Japan's Olympic team – 21 men and 12 women

The Japanese federation (JAAF) have so far confirmed a team of 21 men and 12 women for this summer’s Olympics in Athens.

In March, the JAAF announced the three men and three women Olympic marathon team, while Hammer thrower Koji Murofushi and sprinter Shingo Suetsugu were already pre-selected after winning bronze medal in Paris, and on Monday (14 June) an additional 16 men and 9 women were added to the team.

The additions covered the national champions who had cleared the Olympic “A” standard and those with the “A” standard who finished second or third (provided the winner also had “A” standard), and several national champions who cleared the “B” standard were included if their performances were equivalent to top 50 in the world.  Since the Japanese Olympic Committee gave a quota for their track and field team of 40, additional athletes may be included to the team after Nambu track meet in July. 

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Here is the list of the 27 track & field Olympians with their very brief bios: 

Men 

Sprints:
Shingo Suetsugu:  Pre-selected after winning a bronze medal at 200m in the World Championship in Paris, 24 years old Shingo Suetsugu holds Asian record at 200m (20.03).  He is the 2002 Asian Games’ champion at 200m and the two-time national champion at both 100m and 200m. 

Nobuharu Asahara:  Three-time national champion (1994, 1995 and 1997) at LJ and five-time national champion (1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002) at 100m, Nobuharu Asahara set three national records (10.19, 10.14 and 10.08) at 100m.  He is a two-time Olympian and has a personal best of 10.02 at 100m. 

Hiroyasu Tsuchie:  A son of the 1965 national champion at 200m, Hiroyasu Tsuchie won the 1998 national championship at 200m. A 30 years old Tsuchie, who won the 1999 national championship at 100m has improved his personal best twice in the last two years.

Shinji Takahira:  A 2004 national champion at 200m, 19 years old Shinji Takahira is the 2002 Asian Junior champion at 200m.  He was a member of the gold medal winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams at the 2002 Asian Junior Championships. 

Ryo Matsuda:  Second at both the 2003 and 2004 national championships, Ryo Matsuda set a personal best of 20.59 in the 2004 national championships. 

Mitsuhiro Sato:  Two-time national champion (2003 and 2004) at 400m, 24 years old Mitsuhiro Sato was third at 1999 Asian Junior Championships. 

Yuki Yamaguchi:  Close second in the 2004 national championships, 20 years old Yuki Yamaguchi is a national junior record holder at 45.18.  He won the 400m in the 2002 Asian Junior Championships. 

Jun Osakada:  Two-time national champion (1999 and 2001) at 400m, Jun Osakada is the third fastest 400m runner in Japan with the personal best of 45.05, which was set in the last Olympic year. 

Distance:
Ryuji Ohno:  A 2004 national champion at 10000m at age of 19, Ryoji Ohno made a dramatic breakthrough in 2004, improving the personal best from 28:38.35 to 27:59.32, a national junior record. 

400mH:
Dai Tamesue:  A bronze medalist at 2001 World Championships, Dai Tamesue is a four-time national champion and national record holder at 47.89.  In Edmonton, Tamesue set a national record in the semi and further improved it in the final.  

3000mSC: 
Yoshitaka Iwamizu:  Four-time national champion (2001 to 2004) and national record holder at 8:18.92 (set in the heat of the World Championships), Yoshitaka Iwamizu was 11th at the 3000mSC in the World Championships in Paris. 

Walk:
Takayuki Tanii:  Third in the 1999 World Youth Championships and seventh in the 2002 World Junior Championships, both at 10000mW, Takayuki Tanii is the two-time national champion (2003 and 2004) at 20KmW and the national record holder at 50KmW. 

Yuki Yamazaki: Fourth in the 2001 World Youth Championships and fifth in the 2002 World Junior Championships, Yuki Yamazaki is the national junior record and national collegiate record holder at 20KmW.       

PV:
Daichi Sawano:  A precocious talent Daichi Sawano holds national high school record (5.40m), national junior record (5.50m), national indoor record (5.70m) and national record (5.80m).  Sawano is two-time national inter-high school champion, two-time collegiate champion and four-time national champion. 

LJ:
Shin-ichi Terano:  The 2004 national champion at LJ, Shin-ichi Terano set a huge personal best of 8.20m on his six and the final attempt at the national championships. 

TJ:
Takanori Sugibayashi: Five-time national champion at TJ, Takanori Sugibayashi is the second longest triple jumper in Japan with 17.02m personal best. 

HT:
Koji Murofushi:  Pre-selected after winning a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, Koji Murofushi is an Asian record holder and two time (1998 and 2002) Asian Games’ champion at the hammer throw.  A ten-time national champion, Murofushi also won a silver medal in the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton. 

JT:
Yukifumi Murakami:  Third in the 1998 World Junior Championships and second in the 2002 Asian Games, Yukifumi Murakami is the four-time national champion (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004) at JT. 

Women:

800m:
Miho Sugimori: An Asian indoor record holder (2:00.78) at 800m, Miho Sugimori set a national outdoor record (2:00.46) when she won the 2004 national championships.  Sugimori, who won the 2002 Asian Championships at 800m, advanced to the semi-final at the 2003 World Indoor Championships.   

Distance: 
Kayoko Fukushi:  A national record holder at 3000m (8:44.40) and 5000m (14:55.19), Kayoko Fukushi is the two-time national champion (2002 and 2004) at 5000m and three-time national champion (2002, 2003 and 2004) at 10000m.  Fukushi also holds national junior record at 3000m (8:52.3), 5000m (15:10.23) and 10000m (31:42.05).  

Megumi Tanaka:  A national inter-high school champion at 3000m, Megumi Tanaka competed at 5000m in the 1999 World Championships and 2000 Olympic Games, finishing tenth in Sevilla.  Tanaka twice finished second at 10000m in the national championships and recorded 2:24:47 at the marathon three months ago in Nagoya. 

Harumi Hiroyama:  Former national record holder at 1500m (4:11.10), 3000m (8:50.40) and 5000m (15:03.67), Harumi Hiroyama is the most versatile runner in Japan, having won the national championships at 1500m (1992), 3000m (1992 and 1993), 10000m (1997 and 1999) and the marathon (2000). 

Walk
Mayumi Kawasaki:  Two-time national champion at 20KmW, Mayumi Kawasaki twice set national records (1:32:16, 1:31:19) at the same distance. 

PV
Takayo Kondo:  Three-time national champion (2001, 2002 and 2004) at PV, Takayo Kondo twice set national record. 

LJ
Maho Hanaoka: Five-time national champion at LJ, Maho Hanaoka also won four TJ titles in the national championships.  Hanaoka set three national records at LJ and four national records at TJ.  She won a silver medal at the LJ in the 2002 Asian Games.   

SP
Chinatsu Mori:  Three-time (2001, 2003 and 2004) national champion at SP, Chinatsu Mori set nine national records at SP, culminating at 18.22m.  Mori is the first Japanese to crack 17m as well as 18m barrier. 

Heptathlon:
Yuki Nakata:  Three-time national champion (2002, 2003 and 2004) at Heptathlon, Yuki Nakata set three national records (5642, 5910 and 5962), the last one at the 2004 national championships.