London World Championships - Day Ten Japanese Results

Rio Olympics men's 50 km Race Walk bronze medalist Hirooki Arai followed up with Japan's first silver medal of the London World Championships, leading teammate Kai Kobayashi to a Japanese double medal haul. Far behind the championships record pace set by eventual gold medalist Yohann Diniz of France, Arai, Kobayashi and teammate Satoshi Maruo all sat together in the chase pack through 15 km. Maruo began to drop back approaching 20 km, but Arai and Kobayashi stayed up front through 35 km before making a break that took them all the way to silver and bronze medal finishes 2 seconds apart just over 8 minutes behind Diniz. Maruo fought his way back through the pack, ultimately finishing 5th just over a minute and a half behind his medalist teammates.

On paper the men's 20 km crew had the potential to repeat the 50 km results, but it wasn't to be. One by one Rio Olympics 7th placer Daisuke Matsunaga and world #2 and #3-ranked Eiki Takahashi and Isamu Fujisawa slipped off the back of the pack. Fujisawa ended up with the top Japanese spot at 11th in 1:20:04, one minute out of the medals. Takahashi was 32 seconds behind him in 14th. Matsunaga wound up in serious trouble, weaving and staggering over the final few laps before finishing 38th another 3 minutes back. Lone female race walker Kumiko Okada couldn't better her male teammates, off the pack within the first 5 km and ultimately taking 18th almost 5 minutes out of bronze.

London World Championships Day Ten Japanese Results

London, England, 8/13/17
click here for complete results

Women's 20 km Race Walk
1. Jiayu Yang (China) - 1:26:18 - PB
2. Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez (Mexico) - 1:26:19
3. Antonella Palmisano (Italy) - 1:26:36 - PB
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18. Kumiko Okada (Japan) - 1:31:19

Men's 20 km Race Walk
1. Eider Arevalo (Colombia) - 1:18:53 - NR
2. Sergei Shirobokov (ANA/Russia) - 1:18:55
3. Caio Bonfim (Brazil) - 1:19:04 - NR
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11. Isamu Fujisawa (Japan) - 1:20:04
14. Eiki Takahashi (Japan) - 1:20:36
38. Daisuke Matsunaga (Japan) - 1:23:39

Men's 50 km Race Walk
1. Yohann Diniz (France) - 3:33:12 - MR
2. Hirooki Arai (Japan) - 3:41:17
3. Kai Kobayashi (Japan) - 3:41:19 - PB
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5. Satoshi Maruo (Japan) - 3:43:03 - PB

© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photo by Ekiden Mania, © 2017 Kazuyuki Sugimatsu, all rights reserved

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