BUDAPEST, (Aug 8) – Japan’s team for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest, scheduled from August 19 to 27, includes a number of gold medal contenders, including defending 20km race walk champion Toshikazu Yamanishi and world javelin bronze medalist Haruka Kitaguchi.
Yamanishi, a two-time gold medalist, clinched his first world championships title in Doha back in 2019, a feat he followed up by retaining his championship status in Oregon.
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The 27-year-old will be joined by Koki Ikeda, the silver medalist in Oregon, last year, Eiki Takahashi, and Yuta Koga, forming a formidable Japanese contingent for the men’s 20km race walk—a curtain-raiser event set to unfold on the morning of August 19.
Another strong gold medal contender is Haruka Kitaguchi, who heads into the world track and field championships in Budapest as the world leader in the women’s Javelin Throw.
Kitaguchi, who clinched the bronze medal in Oregon last summer has been in top form this season, and has already thrown 67.04 meters for a national record and personal best at the 2023 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, last month.
Joining the ranks in the Japanese team are several other standout athletes. Shunsuke Izumiya, the national record-holder in the 110m hurdles, with 13.04 seconds, and Nozomi Tanaka, who will compete in the 1500m and 5000m events, both bring their talents to Budapest with the hope of leaving with medals.
Former Florida track and field standout sprinter, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, will race in the men’s 100m and the 4x100m relay, along with Hiroki Yanagita and Ryuichiro Sakai.
Japan World Athletics Championships 2023 Team
WOMEN’S TEAM
100m: Arisu Kimishima
200m: Remi Tsuruta
1500m: Yume Goto, Nozomi Tanaka
5000m: Ririka Hironaka, Nozomi Tanaka, Yuma Yamamoto
10,000m: Rino Goshima, Ririka Hironaka
Marathon: Rika Kaseda, Mizuki Matsuda, Sayaka Sato
100m hurdles: Masumi Aoki, Yumi Tanaka, Asuka Terada
400m hurdles: Eri Utsunomiya, Ami Yamamoto
Long jump: Sumire Hata
Triple jump: Mariko Morimoto, Naoko Takashima
Discus: Maki Saito
Javelin: Haruka Kitaguchi, Marina Saito, Momone Ueda
20km race walk: Nanako Fujii, Ayane Yanai, Yukiko Umeno
35km race walk: Masumi Fuchise, Kumiko Okada, Serena Sonoda
MEN’S TEAM
100m: Ryuichiro Sakai, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, Hiroki Yanagita
200m: Shota Iizuka, Koki Ueyama, Towa Uzawa
400m: Yuki Joseph Nakajima, Fuga Sato, Kentaro Sato
5000m: Hyuga Endo, Kazuya Shiojiri
10,000m: Ren Tazawa
Marathon: Kazuya Nishiyama, Kenya Sonota, Ichitaka Yamashita
3000m steeplechase: Ryoma Aoki, Ryuji Miura, Seiya Sunada
Decathlon: Yuma Maruyama
110m hurdles: Shunsuke Izumiya, Shunya Takayama, Taiga Yokochi
400m hurdles: Takayuki Kishimoto, Yusaku Kodama, Kazuki Kurokawa
High jump: Ryoichi Akamatsu, Naoto Hasegawa, Tomohiro Shinno
Pole vault: Tomoya Karasawa
Long jump: Yuki Hashioka, Shotaro Shiroyama, Hiromichi Yoshida
Triple jump: Hikaru Ikehata
Javelin: Roderick Genki Dean, Kenji Ogura, Yuta Sakiyama
20km race walk: Koki Ikeda, Yuta Koga, Eiki Takahashi, Toshikazu Yamanishi
35km race walk: Masatora Kawano, Satoshi Maruo, Tomohiro Noda
4x100m: Shota Iizuka, Yuki Koike, Soshi Mizukubo, Ryuichiro Sakai, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, Hiroki Yanagita
4x400m: Kenki Imaizumi, Ryuki Iwasaki, Naohiro Jinushi, Yuki Joseph Nakajima, Fuga Sato, Kentaro Sato
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