K. Ken
Nakamura for the IAAF
19 June 2001 - The day after the national championships, the Japan AAF announced the Japanese team for the World Championships in Edmonton. In addition to 10 marathon runners already selected in March, 42 athletes were chosen for the team. Objectively speaking, the marathon runners, especially Atsushi Fujita and Yoko Shibui, and hammer thrower Koji Murofushi have the best chance of winning Championship medals.
Atsushi Fujita won the 2000 Fukuoka marathon in 2:06:51, a new national best time, while Yoko Shibui recorded a world best marathon debut record of 2:23:11 in the 2001 Osaka Ladies marathon. Their potential seems to be limitless. Yoshio Koide legendary coach of Naoko Takahashi, an Olympic marathon champion predicted that Shibui would run sub 2:20 marathon in the near future. On several occasions, Ken-ichi Takahashi, a fearless front-runner has set near suicidal pace only to hit the wall after 30Km. However, each time he pushed the wall back. His breakthrough is imminent, and a 2:05 marathon may not be that far in the future. Kazumi Matsuo is undefeated in her three marathon starts, and each time she has improved her personal best. She is a teammate of Eri Yamguchi who finished 7th in the Olympc Games.
Koji Murofushi, one of the top hammer thrower in the world is on a roll this year; he is undefeated this seaon and has thrown over 82m six times. (see his dairy on the IAAF Online)
With Koji Ito missing from the team for the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the best Japanese sprinter is Shingo Suetsugu. Suetsugu who ran the semi final of the 200m in the Sydney Olympics last year, seems to be improving still further this year. Suetsugu has already run 20.34 in the East Asian Games last month, and in the heat of the national championships, he ran 20.49 with self-described 70% effort.
The Japanese relay team - both 4x100m and 4x400m - historically done well in the global Championships. The 4x100m relay team has finished 6th in the Sydney Olympics, while the 4x400m relay team has finished 5th in the Atlanta Olympics.
Toshinari Takaoka finished 7th at the 10,000m in the Sydney Olympic Games. He will be moving up to the marathon next year and this will be his last year on the track. Takaoka’s goal for the year is to improve his 10,000m national record beyond the reach of his contemporaries. He might even go for the record in Edmonton, if the pace were conducive to record setting.
Other member of the men’s 10,000m team, are twenty-two years old Koichiro Nagata and twenty-four years old Naoki Mishiro. They were top distance runners when they were in college. Mishiro was second in the 10,000m and third in the 5000m in the 1999 World University Games. Nagata who was totally unknown as a high school athlete improved dramatically in college; he was a collegiate champion at the 5000m in both his junior and senior year. It is reported that his MaxVO2 is an incredible 90.1ml/Kg.
Several athletes will be competing at the World Championships for the first time. Most promising among them are twenty-year-old Masato Naito, a high hurdler, who has improved his personal best from 13.85 in 2000 to 13.64 this year, twenty-one-year-old Yoshitaka Iwamizu, a 3000m steeple chaser, who has improved his best from 8:32.99 in 2000 to 8:26.77 this year, and twenty-three-year-old Dai Tamesue, a 400m hurdler, who was fourth in the 1996 World Junior Championships at the 400m.
Although Mizuki Noguchi has medalled in the World Half Marathon Championships, having finished second in the 1999 edition of the race, for the other members of the women’s 10,000m team - Haruko Okamoto and Mari Ozaki - Edmonton will be their World Championships debut. All three runners improved their personal best ats the national championships despite driving rain during most of the race.
Men:
Sprints:
Nabuharu
Asahara
100m
10.08
Akihiro Yasui
100m
10.21
Hiroyasu Tsuchie 100m
10.25
Shingo Suetsugu
200m
20.26
Ryo Matsuda
200m
20.68
Toshiyuki Fujimoto
200m
20.68
Jun Osakada
400m
45.05
Kenji Tabata
400m
45.69
Takahiko Yamamura
400m
45.03
Ryuji Muraki
400m
45.88
Distance:
Toshinari Takaoka
10,000m
27:35.09
Naoki Mishiro
10,000m
27:59.39
Koichiro Nagata
10,000m
27:53.19
Marathon:
Atsuhi Fujita
Marathon 2:06:51
Takayuki Nishida
Marathon 2:08:45
Ken-ichi Takahashi
Marathon 2:10:51
Shigeru
Aburaya
Marathon 2:07:52
Yoshiteru Morishita
Marathon 2:07:59
110mH
Masato Naito
110mH
13.65
Satoru
Tanigawa
110mH
13.55
400mH
Dai Tamesue
400mH
48.47
Hideaki Kawamura
400mH
48.96
Ken Yoshizawa
400mH
49.11
3000mSC
Yoshitaka Iwamizu
3000mSC 8:26.77
Walk:
Satoshi
Yanagisawa
20KmW
1:19:29
Daisuke Ikeshima
20KmW
1:19:42
Fumio Imamura
50KmW
3:49.38
Yoshimi Hara
50KmW
3:52:26
Jump
Manabu
Yokoyama
PV
5.70m
Daisuke
Watanabe
LJ
8.10m
Takanori Sugibayashi
TJ
17.02m
Throws
Koji Murofushi
HT
82.60m
Women:
Sprints:
Kazue Kakinuma
400m
52.95
Makiko Yoshida
400m
54.28
Miho Sugimori
400m
54.01
Saori
Hiiro
400m
54.31
Sakie Nobuoka
200m
23.74
Distance:
Haruko
Okamoto
10,000m
31:50.39
Mari Ozaki
10,000m
31:50.56
Mizuki Noguchi
10,000m
31:51.13
Marathon:
Reiko Tosa
Marathon 2:24:47
Yoko Shibui
Marathon 2:23:11
Kazumi Matsuo
Marathon 2:26:01
Takami
Ominami
Marathon 2:26:04
Yukiko Okamoto
Marathon 2:26:21
Walk
Kaori
Nikaido
20KmW
1:32:44
Ryoko Tadamasa
20KmW
1:33:43
Jumps:
Miki
Imai
HJ
1.94m
Maho Hanaoka
LJ
6.82m
Kumiko Ikeda
LJ
6.78m
Throws:
Masumi
Aya
HT
62.13m
Takako Miyake
JT
61.15m
