Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
12 July 2002 Japan is sending 24 men and 7 women team to Kingston, Jamaica for the IAAF/Coca Cola World Junior Championships. In the last eight editions of the World Juniors the Japanese juniors have won 19 medals. In contrast, in the last eight editions of the World Championships, the Japanese seniors have won 11 medals. One might conclude that historically Japanese juniors have done better than their senior counterparts. In the last edition of the World Junior Championships in Santiago, Japanese juniors won three medals (men’s 400m, 4x100m relay and women’s Long Jump), in addition to two fourth place finishers at men’s 5000m Walk and women’s 5000m.
Following are info on selected team members.
Men:
Yuki Yamazaki (DOB January 16,1984): Yamazaki is the first high school athlete to win the national championships in 20KmW. Furthermore, his winning time, 1:20:43, was the fourth fastest time in history by a Japanese.
He was a soccer player in junior high school, but joined a track team in high school. In order to correct his running form, following his coach’s suggestion, Yamazaki started walking. A year later, he won the 2000 national junior championships and was selected to compete in the 2000 World Junior Championships, where he finished 20th. In 2001, Yamazaki finished fourth in the World Youth Championships, and also set a junior national record in 5000mW (19:35.79) in September.
Kenji Narisako (DOB: July 25, 1984): Although Narisako was a bronze medallist at the 400mH in the 2001 World Youth Championships, he does not consider himself to be a 400m hurdler. He continues to train for 110mH and 400m flat. His strength comes from 400m training where he ran the third leg of silver medal winning 4x400m Relay team for his school at the Inter-High school championships. The son of a decathlete, Narisako says that he would like to try every event he can get his hands/feet on including multi-event. Earlier in the year, he firmly declared that he would like to finish in a medal position in Kingston with sub 50 seconds clocking.
Akira Kano (DOB November 13, 1984): Despite a “sub-par performance in Javelin Throw and Shot Put” in his own words, Akira Kano finished fourth at the Octathlon in the 2001 World Youth Championships. Kano who holds records for the high school freshman and sophomore in Octathlon, recorded a national high school record for Octathlon in May of 2002. To prepare for the World Juniors, Kano has been working on pole vault, an event contested in Decathlon but not in Octathlon.
Yuji Ohashi (DOB September 5, 1983): The first high school high hurdler to break 14 seconds in 110mH, Ohashi recorded 13.98 while winning a national Inter-high school championships in 2001. He was also third in the Asian Junior Championships last July, and is the reigning national junior champion at 110mH.
Takuro Mori (DOB: June 21, 1983): The reigning national junior champion at PV, Takuro Mori was a precocious talent, having finished second at the national inter-junior high school championships and cleared 5m as a high school freshman.
Historically the Japanese distance runners have done well in the World Junior Championships. Koichi Murakami who will be running 5000m is a good 1500m runner endowed with speed, while Kei Ide who will be running 10,000m is endowed with exceptional endurance. He has run 10 miles in 47:13.
Kei Ide (DOB: February 22, 1983): Coached by Olympic marathon runners Shigeru and Takeshi Soh, Ide was the first Japanese at 5000m in the 2002 National Junior Championships. Told by his coach to “go get the spot for the World Juniors,” he ran a smart race to finish as the first Japanese in the race (won by a Kenyan). Ide, who recorded the second fastest junior time at 10,000m (28:46.38) last year, recorded a personal best at 5000m in May. This is his first competition outside of Japan, and the Soh brothers think that competition against the best of his age group will benefit Ide’s career in the longer term.
Koichi Murakami (DOB: September 4, 1983): 1998 national junior high school champion at 1500m, Murakami was second in National Junior championships as well as Inter-high school championships both at 1500m in 2001. In 2001, he was the fastest junior at 1500m.
The Japanese relay team has done well in the World Junior Championships. The best sprinter on the team, perhaps is Kazuteru Matsumoto, who won the 200m at the National Junior Championships.
Kazuteru Matsumoto (DOB: November 25, 1983): The fastest high school sprinter at both 100m (10.43) and 200m (20.71) in 2001, he is now with Tokai University track team, the team coached by Susumu Takano, an Olympic and Worlds 400m finalist.
Shinji Takahira (DOB July 18, 1984): A former 110m hurdler, he has been concentrating on 100m since he was a high school freshman. However, his high school coach thinks his best event eventually will be 400m/400mH. To move up to the longer event, Takahira competed in his first 200m last September, and recorded 21.33.
Women:
Sachiko Eguchi (DOB August 4, 1983): Sachiko Eguchi, who trains with a local track club, literally is a one-woman track team, for she is the only member of her high school track team. Eguchi who was 2nd at 100mH and 4th in 200m in the 2000 national inter-high school championships, currently is the most dominant 400m/400mH runner in her age group. In 2001, Eguchi won both 400m and 400mH events in the national junior championships, national Inter-high school championships and the junior division of the national games. She was also third in the national championships at 400mH, and was second at the Inter-High school championships at 200m. This year, she won the national junior championships again at both 400m and 400mH, after finishing second in the 400mH in the national championships.
Fumi Mitsumura (DOB March 1, 1985): A former distance runner, Mitsumura turned to walking when she came down with an achilles injury, and that is how she found her event. In 2001, Mitsumura set the junior national record at 3000mW (13:04.08). In May of 2002 she further improved the 3000mW record to 12:53.53, which was also a new senior national record. A month later she won the national junior championships at 10,000mW with new national junior record (46:02.58).
Rina Fujimaki (DOB April 12, 1983): The national inter-high school champion at 200m, Fujimaki as a college freshman won 100m/200m and anchored 4x400m relay team to victory at the district collegiate championships.
Yoko Miyauchi (DOB: 19 June 1983): Yoko Miyauchi, who recorded personal bests at both 3000m and 5000m in May, is coached by 1991 World Marathon champion Hiromi Taniguchi. After the national junior 5000m, Miyauchi said that 5000m felt short and she needs to work on her speed especially in the final stage of the race. According to her team mate, Olympic 10,000m runner Yuko Kawakami, Miyauchi need to learn how to position herself effectively in the pack, especially at the start of the race, something Kawakami feels that Miyauchi needs to learn from her own experience. “She will be the leader of the team in a few years,” concluded Taniguchi.
Japanese team for the IAAF/Cocal Cola World Junior Championships
Event Name PR
100m: Ryosuke
Igumi 10.53
Yusuke Nii 10.59
200m: Kazuteru Matsumoto 20.71
Daisuke Sakai 21.16
Shinji Takahira 21.20
400m: Yosuke Inoue 47.03
Yuki Yamaguchi 47.26
Fujio Yamauchi 47.52
5000m: Koichi Murakami 14:05.81
Jun-ichi Seino 14:06.71
10000m: Kei Ide 28:46.38
110mH: Yuji Ohashi 13.98
Yusuke Akiyama 14.24
400mH: Jun Hamada 52.15
Kenji Narisako 51.33
3000mSC: Shuji
Yoshioka 8:53.40
10000mW: Takayuki Tanii 40:58.59
Yuki Yamazaki 40:56.5
HJ: Yu Inoue 2.19m
PV Takuro Mori 5.30m
LJ: Yuki Imai 7.60m
Kozo Kimura 7.58m
JT: Kazuki Yamamoto 74.05m
Dec: Akira Kano 6938
Women
200m: Rina Fujimaki 23.87
3000m: Machi Tanaka 9:17.54
5000m: Yoko Miyauchi 15:58.90
Fujiko Takahashi 15:50.31
400mH: Sachiko Eguchi 57.90
Chisa Nishio 59.69
10000mW: Fumi Mitsumura 46:02.58
