The 21st annual Shizuoka International in Japan was held yesterday, a national holiday that commemorates the founding of the current national constitution. The highlights were the men’s Pole Vault, where Daichi Sawano cleared 5.83m to improve his own national record by 3cm, and the men’s 10,000m in which a new 18-year-old Kenyan star Samuel Wanjiru dominated the race winning in 27:08.00.

National record monopoly 

For Sawano it was his third national record in three years, having recorded 5.75m and 5.80m in the last two national championships in 2003 and 2004.  Four-time national champion (1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004) as well as two-time national inter-high school and two-time national inter-collegiate champion, Sawano holds national high school (5.40m), national collegiate (5.52m), national junior (5.50m), national indoor (5.70m), and national outdoor (5.83m) record.  Leading up to the 2005 season, Sawano trained in Mt SAC for more than a month from December 22 to January 24, sometimes with Tim Mack the reigning Olympic champion. 

After returning to Japan he easily cleared 5.60m in the Yokohama Indoor meet on February 19, where he said, “My 5.60m vault here was much easier than those attempted in the last year around the same time.”  Turning to the outdoors, Sawano vaulted 5.70m in the Hyogo Relays, before improving the national record in Shizuoka. One of his goals in Helsinki is “to vault 5.80m on my first attempt.” 

Without senior pace

A new Kenyan star may have been born.  Eighteen year old (DOB Nov 10, 1986) Samuel Wanjiru completely dominated the men’s 10,000m, where he recorded 27:08.00, and in the process improved the nine days old Japanese all-comers record of 27:08.42, set by Martin Mathathi in the Hyogo Relays on 24 April. Wanjiru is now the third fastest junior at 10,000m, behind only Boniface Kiprop (27:04.00) and Moses Masai (27:07.29).  However, while Kiprop and Masai were pulled along by faster senior runners in their races, Wanjiru was way ahead of everyone in Shizuoka. 

Ten-days ago, Wanjiru recorded 27:32.43 in the “B” race of the Hyogo Relays, thus dramatically improving his 10,000m personal best from the 28:00.14 recorded last year, also in the Hyogo Relays. Wanjiru who attended a high school in Japan, now runs for the Toyota Kyushu track team and is coached by Koichi Morishita, the 1992 Olympic Marathon silver medallist.  He won at both the Chiba and Fukuoka Cross Country meets last March.

Mureith Wangari out-leaned Jane Wanjiku in the women’s 10,000m, winning by 3/100th of a second.  Wangari, who improved her 10,000m personal best to 31:42.25 (from 32:17.79 recorded last year) in the Hyogo Relays, promptly improved her best once again in Shizuoka to 31:38.81.  Behind them, Harumi Hiroyama who will run the Marathon in Helsinki finished third in 32:04.89, while Reiko Tosa, who was fifth at the Marathon in Athens, was fourth in 32:07.66, a personal best. 

World bronze medallist "making mistakes"

Shingo Suetsugu ran his first serious 200m in almost two years.  After winning a bronze medal at 200m in the 2003 World Championships, Suetsugu concentrated on the 100m in 2004.  Although he had already run the 200m this season in 20.63 in the Willy Williams Classic in Arizona, it was still part of his training for 2005.  In Shizuoka, after running his heat in 20.55, Suetsugu recorded 20.80 in the final against a 1.7m/s head wind.  Earlier he recorded 10.15 for 100m in Hiroshima on April 29 but Suetsugu said, “I made many mistakes during the race,” after the race. His next race is 100m in the Osaka GP (this Saturday 7 May) 

While women’s national record holder Sakie Nobuoka won the 200m by 1/100th of a second in 23.69 (against 1.1m/s wind) from Savatheda Fynes, perhaps more significantly, Asami Tanno, the most promising young sprinter in Japan, was third in 24.01.  Despite the early point in the season Tanno came close to her personal best, 23.95.  Tanno, already a national champion and national record holder in 400m at the young age of 19, was sixth in the 2004 World Junior Championships.  She won her specialty, 400m, four days ago in Oda memorial meet, also near personal best. 

200m
Final (-1.7m/s)
1)  Shingo Suetsugu  20.80
2)  Shinji Takahira  20.91
3)  Ryo Matsuda  21.31

1500m
race 1
1) Tsukasa Morita  3:49.61

race 2
1) Fumikazu Kobayashi 3:43.88
2) Yasuhiro Tago  3:44.21
3) Jun Tsuji  3:44.72

400mH
race 1
1)  Masashi Wakae  51.11

race 2
1)  Yasuke Tsushima  51.11 

race 3
1) Kazuya Shogata  50.91

race 4
1)  Ian Weakley (JAM)  49.11
2)  Kenji Narisako  49.40
3)  Yoshihiro Chiba  49.84
4)  Masahira Yoshikata  50.45

10,000m
1)  Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) 27:08.00   All comers record
2)  Julius Gitahi (KEN)  27:38.11
3)  Samuel Muturi (KEN) 27:40.19
4)  Girma Assefa (ETH) 27:45.14
5)  Ndirang Simon  28:12.15
6)  Atsushi Sato  28:14.26
7)  Yu Mitsuya  28:14.83
8)  Tomohiro Seto  28:15.54

HJ
1)  Naoyuki Daigo  2.21m
2)  Satoru Kubota  2.15m

PV
1)  Daichi Sawano 5.83m   National Record
2)  Satoru Yasuda  5.35m

JT
1)  Yukifumi Murakami  77.00m
2)  Yasuo Ikeda  70.38m

Women

200m
Final (-1.1m/s)
1)  Sakie Nobuoka  23.69
2)  Savatheda Fynes  23.70
3)  Asami Tanno  24.01
4)  Nadine Faustin (HAI) 24.35

400mH
race 1
1)  Kayo Kanemaru  61.07

race 2
1)  Rika Sakurai  59.74

race 3
1)  Andrea Blackett (BAR)  57.46
2)  Satomi Kubokura  57.98
3)  Makiko Yoshida  58.07

10,000m
1)  Murethi Wangari (KEN) 31:38.81
2)  Jane Wanjiku (KEN) 31:38.84
3)  Harumi Hiroyama  32:04.89
4)  Reiko Tosa  32:07.66
5)  Yoshiko Fujinaga  32:33.89
6)  Yumiko Okamoto  32:41.25
7)  Norie Takahashi  32:42.42

HJ
1)  Miyuki Aoyama  1.80m
2)  Yoko Hannicutt  1.75m
3)  Miki Imai  1.75m

LJ
1)  Kumiko Ikeda  6.46m  (2.0m/s)
2)  Maho Hanaoka  6.43m  (3.1m/s)
3)  Taurima Perkins (AUS)  6.30m (1.0m/s)

DT
1)  Yuka Murofushi  54.26m
2)  Tomoko Yamaguchi  51.53m

SP
1)  Yoko Toyonaga  15.89m
2)  Yukiko Shirai  14.65m