Japanese
Olympic team is named
K. Ken Nakamura for IAAF
22 June 2000 - Twenty three athletes have been added to the Japanese Olympic track & field team to bring its total to 35 members.
At the present time (Up to five more athletes are may be added in mid-July after the Nambu meet.) the team consists of twenty four men and eleven women.
Japan’s best medal prospects, obviously, are in the marathon. The six member Olympic team was announced earlier in March. Three women marathon runners who will represent Japan in the Olympic Games are Naoko Takahashi, the 1998 Asian Games marathon champion, Eri Yamaguchi, the 1999 Tokyo ladies marathon champion, and Ari Ichihashi, a 1999 World Championships silver medallist. The personal best for Takahashi (2:21:47) and Yamaguchi (2:22:12) are sixth and eighth fastest marathon performance in the all-time list respectively. In addition, Yamaguchi is running well on the track, having set a 10,000m PR (32:07.25) recently. Along with Ichihashi who showed her poise in the championship race in Sevilla, they are the best medal prospects in Sydney.
Although their chances of a medal may not be as great as those of their women counterparts, Japanese men are no slouches either.
A 2:08:48 marathon runner, Nobuyuki Sato was a bronze medallist in the marathon at the 1999 World Championships in Sevilla. The national marathon record holder, Takayuki Inubushi who recorded 2:06:57 in the 1999 Berlin marathon showed that he can perform well under intense pressure when he ran 2:08:16 in the Olympic qualifying race in February. The third member of the team, Shinji Kawashima was a former college teammate of Yuko Arimori, a two-time Olympic marathon medallist. He was second to Martin Fiz in the 2000 Lake Biwa marathon in a personal best time of 2:09:04. With more than twenty marathons under his belt, he is by far the most experienced marathon runner on the team.
Besides the marathon, the best chance for medals lies in the women’s distance events.
Heading the 10,000m team is 2:22:56 marathon runner Harumi Hiroyama. Hiroyama is a national record holder at the 1500m (4:11.10), 3000m (8:50.40), and the 5000m (15:03.67), as well as the fourth-fastest Japanese at the 10,000m (31:22.72); she is the most versatile distance runner in Japan. She was also a twice national champion (in 1999 and 1997) at 10,000m as well as double national champion at 1500m/3000m in 1992. In the 1999 World Championships, she showed her ease under championships’ pressure when she finished fourth at the 10,000m.
The second member of the 10,000m team is Chiemi Takahashi who was fifth in the same race. Her PR at the distance is 31:27.57, making her the fifth fastest Japanese. She also excels in cross country, having represented Japan in the World Cross Country Championships for eight consecutive years.
For the third member of the team, Yuko Kawakami, Sydney will be her second Olympics, having finished seventh at the 10,000m in Atlanta in the near PR time of 31:23.23. It was only her fifth (two of them were heats) 10,000m of her career. She is also a 1998 Asian Games champion as well as the 1998 national champion at the 10,000m. She is the second fastest 10,000m (31:20.19) runner among Japanese women and also holds the Japanese debut record (31:52.54) over the distance
Heading the 5000m team is another veteran of the Atlanta Games, Michiko Shimizu. She finished fourth in Atlanta by recording the national record time of 15:09.05 despite the oppressive heat. She was also national 5000m champion in 1998. The second member of the team, Megumi Tanaka also recorded a personal record in the championships; she ran 15:17.92 to finish tenth at the 5000m in Sevilla. The third member of the team, Yoshiko Ichikawa who also ran in Atlanta, was 1996, 1997 and 1999 national champion at the 5000m. In 1997 she was also a national 1500m champion. She is also a team-mate of Ari Ichihashi who will be running the marathon in Sydney.
Completing the women’s Olympic team are dynamic duo of Yoko Ohta (also spelled Ota, but phonetically Ohta will be closer) and Miki Imai. Both high jumpers competed in Sevilla, but failed to qualify for the final. Their goal in Sydney is to make the final and turn fans’ attention to the women’s high jump. Between them, they won the high jump national championships for the last five years. Ohta was the national champion in 1996 and 1997, while Imai won in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Ohta is also the junior national record holder at 1.93m, and was the 1998 Asian Games champion. Their PR, 1.94m is a mere 1cm away from the 13-year old national high jump record of 1.95m that is held by Megumi Sato.
As in the marathon, the Japanese men’s distance team are not as strong as their women counterparts. In fact the JAAF is not sending a full complement to the Olympics. So far, only Toshinari Takaoka and Katsuhiko Hanada were selected. They both ran in the Atlanta Games, but failed to qualify for the final. They are determined to make the final in Sydney. Takaoka who finished 12th in the 1999 World Championships 10,000m is a national record holder at 3000m (7:41.87) and the Asian record holder at 5000m (13:13.40). He was a national champion at the 10,000m in 1996 and 1999, as well as the double Asian Games champion at 5000m/10,000m in the 1994 Asian Games. Hanada was the 1994 national champion at 5000m. Their personal bests at 10,000m are 27:49.89 for Takaoka and 27:50.46 for Hanada. They are both coached by former marathon great. Kunimitsu Ito who has a marathon PR 2:07:57 coaches Takaoka, while legendary Toshihiko Seko coaches Hanada.
Whereas there are no sprinters or hurdlers in the women’s team, men’s team includes some of the best sprinter and hurdlers in Asia. Heading the list is Koji Ito, a triple Asian Games gold medallist. He won 100m, 200m and anchored the winning 4x100m relay team in the 1998 Asian Games. He is an Asian record holder at both the 100m (10.00) and the 200m (20.16). He will be joined by Nobuharu Asahara, a.k.a. the Japanese Carl Lewis because he excels in both the sprints and the long jump. He was an 1996 Olympian at both the 100m and the long jump, and has a personal best of 10.08 at the 100m, and 8.13m at the long jump. Joining them for the 4x100m relay team are two up-and-coming college sprinters, Shingo Kawabata and Shingo Suetsugu. Suetsugu who is coached by Susumu Takano (7th in the 1991 World Championships and 8th in the 1992 Olympics both at the 400m) recently recorded 20.67 while winning the 200m in the district Collegiate championships. Kawabata on the other hand is a 100m champion at the district collegiate championships.
Three 400m long sprinters - Jun Osakada, Takahiro Yamamura, and Kenji Tabata - were selected; presumably their main focus will be the 4x400m relay. Osakada was a member of the national record setting 4x400m relay team which placed fifth in the Atlanta Olympic Games. He was also the 1999 national champion at the 400m. Yamamura who recently improved his 400m PR to 45.81, is a 1997 national champion and the 1999 collegiate champion both at the 400m. Tabata was the 1998 national champion as well as seventh at the 1998 Asian Games. He ran in the first round of the 4x400m relays in the Atlanta Olympic Games. Both Osakada and Tabata have a personal best of 45.69 at the 400m.
A national record holder (13.55) at the 110mH and the 1998, and 1999 national champion, Satoru Tanigawa has showed rapid improvement (from 1998 best of 13.76 to 1999 best of 13.55) in the last few years.
One of the toughest teams to make beside women’s distance team, was the men’s 400m hurdles team. The selectors have chosen Kazuhiko Yamazaki, Dai Tamesue, and Hideaki Kawamura. Yamazaki, who was seventh at the 400mH in the 1995 World Championships, has set national record twice (48.37 & 48.26). Four years ago, he failed to advance out of the first round in Atlanta. Then in 1997, in Athens, he did not finish the semi-final race due to injury. Injury troubled him for much of the next year and a half, but he was persistent; his persistence finally paid off in 1999 when he set his second national record. Tamesue is a junior national record holder at both 400m (45.94) and 400mH (49.09) which was set when he was a high school student. In the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, he was fourth at the 400m in the national junior record time (46.03), and was a member of silver medal winning 4x400m relay team. Troubled years followed, but this year, he improved his 400mH PR twice to 48.99. Kawamura is a 1998 Asian Games champion and was a 1996 Olympian.
Four field event athletes - Masaki Moriganga, Daisuke Watanabe, Manabu Yokoyama, and Koji Murofushi - were selected for the Olympic team. Morinaga, Yokoyama and Murofushi were national record holders at the long jump, pole vault, and hammer throw respectively. Morinaga a national record (8.25m) holder at the long jump recently jumped wind-assisted 8.34m. He was a 1992 Olympian and the 1998 Asian Games’ Champion. Daisuke Watanabe, a 1999 World championships team member has a personal best of 8.12m from last year.
Yokoyama, a former high school (5.21m) and collegiate (5.50m) record holder, has set both national record (5.70m)and national indoor record (5.60m) this year.
Koji Murofushi a five time national champion, and multiple national record setter at the hammer throw, is a 1998 Asian Games Champion. He was 10th in the 1997 World Championships, but Sydney will be his first Olympics. His father, Shigenobu Murofushi, is a five time Asian Games Champion as well as three-time Olympian at the Hammer throw. His best finish at the Olympics was at the 1972 Munich Games when he was eighth. As a family they monopolised the Hammer throw national record since 1971. In 1998, Koji improved his father’s national record of 75.96m to 76.65m. Currently his national Hammer throw record stands at 80.23m.
Four walkers - Satoshi Yanagisawa, Daisuke Ikeshima, Fumio Imamura, and Akihiko Koike - were selected for the Olympic team. Yanagisawa is the national record holder (1:19:29), while Ikeshima is the former national record holder (1:19:50) at the 20Km walk. Ikeshima who also competed in the 1996 Olympics improved his PR to 1:19:42 this year. Imamura owns the national record (3:49:38) at the 50Km walk while Koike is the second fastest (3:50:14) 50Km walker in Japan. Imamura was also seventh and sixth in the 1991 and 1997 World Championships respectively. This will be his second Olympics, having competed in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
