Japan Association of Athletics Federation has named 21 athletes across all major categories to represent the country at the 2017 Kampala World Cross Country Championships due March 26.
Japan included top runner Kosei Yamaguchi , Mao Ichiyama, Keita Yoshida and Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu who all posted the best times in the qualifiers.
The nation will miss top gun Kayoko Fukushi who has gained a reputation in the field since her IAAF World Cross Country Championships debut at the 2002 edition in Dublin.
She first made her mark internationally by finishing fourth over 5000m at the 2000 IAAF World U20 Championships in Santiago, Chile, and backed it up the next year by setting national junior records in the 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m.
Kampala will be the fourth African city in the history of the IAAF World Cross Championships to host the tournament after Guiyang of China passed the baton in 2015.
The Japanese national team for the Mar. 26 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda:
Senior Men’s 10 km
Kosei Yamaguchi (Team Aisan Kogyo) – 28:34.19
Shota Maeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) – 28:59.86
Yuma Higashi (Team Kyudenko) – 29:14.78
Haruki Ono (Kanagawa Univ.) – 29:18.49
Yamato Otsuka (Kanagawa Univ.) – 29:22.18
Senior Women’s 10 km
Mao Ichiyama (Team Wacoal) – 32:15.73
Kaori Morita (Team Panasonic) – 32:27
Yuki Hori (Team Panasonic) – 32:40
Fumika Sasaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) – 33:37
Junior Men’s 8 km
Keita Yoshida (Sera H.S.) – 13:50.67
Ryo Saito (Akita Kogyo H.S.) – 13:53.75
Kazuya Nishiyama (Tokyo Nogyo Prep Daini H.S.) – 13:54.16
Ryunosuke Chigira (Tokyo Nogyo Prep Daini H.S.) – 14:07.42
Sodai Shimizu (Rakunan H.S.) – 14:12.57
Yoji Sakai (Suma Gakuen H.S.)
Junior Women’s 6 km
Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) – 8:58.86
Rika Kaseda (Narita H.S.) – 9:05.64
Yuka Sarumida (Toyokawa H.S.) – 9:07.07
Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) – 9:08.54
Hikari Onishi (Suma Gakuen H.S.) – 9:18.74
Hayaka Suzuki (Tokiha Gakuen Kikugawa H.S.) – 9:22.77
