Masatora Kawano in Takahata (© JAAF)
Two-time world medallist Masatora Kawano clocked a world record* of 2:21:47 to win the 35km race walk at the All Japan Race Walking competition – a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze meeting – in Takahata on Sunday (27).
It’s the first performance to meet the world record requirements that were set out by World Athletics in 2022 when the discipline was made official, stipulating that any performance faster than 2:22:00 – provided it also met all of the other standard criteria – would be submitted for world record ratification.
Kawano set out at a steady pace and went through 5km as part of a seven-man group in 20:30. The tempo soon increased and he reached 10km in 40:25, putting him on course to finish inside 2:22:00.
By 15km (1:00:30), just three men remained in contact with Kawano: Satoshi Maruo, Kazuki Takahashi and Kento Yoshikawa. Of those, Takahashi was the first to fade, leaving the lead trio to reach 20km in 1:20:58 with a 23-second lead. Yoshikawa was next to lose contact; by 25km he trailed Kawano and Satoshi by more than a minute, then he dropped out soon after.
With less than 10km to go, world bronze medallist Kawano started to edge ahead of Maruo, the fourth-place finisher over 50km at the 2017 World Championships. By 30km Kawano led by 34 seconds, and that grew to almost three minutes by the time he crossed the finish line in 2:21:47.
Maruo finished second in 2:24:24 while Takahashi held on to third place in 2:26:18. The first seven men finished inside 2:30.
With less than a year until the Japanese capital hosts the World Athletics Championships, Kawano’s performance puts him in the frame as one of the host nation’s leading medal contenders.
Elsewhere in Takahata, two-time world champion Toshikazu Yamanishi won the 20km in 1:17:56 from Hiroto Jusho (1:18:46). Masumi Fuchise won the women’s 35km in 2:52:38.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
