Running News Daily

Winfred Yavi produced a powerful late surge to claim the women’s 10,000m title at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, edging Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka in a thrilling finish.

Yavi, representing Bahrain, stopped the clock at 32:39.18 to secure the gold medal, while Tanaka stayed within striking distance all the way to the final stages before crossing the line in 32:41.54 for silver. India’s Seema Kumari completed the podium in 32:50.05.

The race developed into a gripping battle as the leading group gradually separated from the field. Tanaka remained composed throughout the long-distance contest and positioned herself perfectly as the race entered its decisive stages.

But when the medals were on the line, Yavi found another gear.

The Bahraini athlete produced the decisive acceleration over the closing stages, pulling away from Tanaka to secure gold. Tanaka fought all the way to the finish and settled for a hard-earned silver, while Kumari held on for bronze.

For Tanaka, however, the silver medal is only the beginning of an exceptionally demanding Asian Games campaign.

The Japanese distance star is attempting an ambitious 10,000m, 5,000m and 1,500m triple in Nagoya, meaning she still has two more events ahead of her. Having pushed Yavi to the limit over 10,000m, Tanaka will now have to recover quickly before turning her attention to the shorter distances.

Her performance in the 10,000m provides an encouraging start to that challenge and underlines the remarkable range she is bringing to these Games.

Kumari’s bronze, meanwhile, carried major significance for India. Her 32:50.05 ended a 16-year wait for an Asian Games women’s 10,000m medal, adding another important chapter to India’s history in the event.

The result produced a fascinating three-nation podium, with Bahrain taking gold, Japan silver and India bronze.

Yavi can now celebrate her Asian Games triumph, but Tanaka’s campaign is far from finished. With the 5,000m and 1,500m still to come, the Japanese star will have two more opportunities to add to her medal tally and complete one of the most demanding schedules of the Games.

Australian middle-distance standout Jessica Hull delivered another impressive performance on the global stage, earning a bronze medal in the women’s 3000 meters at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China. Following her silver medal at the Olympics, Hull has now proven she belongs on the world podium — indoors and out.

Running with confidence and control, Hull led at several points in the race and kicked hard in the closing laps, crossing the line in 8:38.28 — just 0.02 seconds behind American Shelby Houlihan, who claimed silver. Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu took the win in 8:37.21, showcasing the kind of closing speed that has made her a dominant figure in middle-distance events.

“I knew it would come down to that final lap,” Hull said post-race. “I gave everything I had, and to come away with a medal among such a talented field is really special.”

This marks a major step up for Hull, who finished fourth in this event at the 2024 World Indoors. With back-to-back major medals, she’s now firmly part of the world’s elite.

A Deeper Look at the Medalists

Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia, the 2022 world indoor silver medalist, finally struck gold with a calm, tactical performance and a powerful closing lap. Hailu, who also holds the world indoor mile record, played her cards perfectly — staying tucked in until launching her move in the final 200 meters to stop the clock at 8:37.21.

Shelby Houlihan made a stunning return to international competition, showing she’s still a force in middle-distance running. Her silver-medal effort in 8:38.26 came after a smartly managed race where she moved up steadily in the second half. Known for her 1500m prowess, Houlihan’s endurance over 3000m proved she remains among the world’s best.

Full Results – Women’s 3000m Final

1. Freweyni Hailu (ETH) – 8:37.21

2. Shelby Houlihan (USA) – 8:38.26

3. Jessica Hull (AUS) – 8:38.28

4. Whittni Morgan (USA) – 8:39.18

5. Birke Haylom (ETH) – 8:39.28

6. Sarah Healy (IRL) – 8:40.00

7. Marta García (ESP) – 8:40.80

8. Purity Kajuju Gitonga (KEN) – 8:44.56

9. Linden Hall (AUS) – 8:44.99

10. Nozomi Tanaka (JPN) – 8:47.93

11. Adva Cohen (ISR) – 8:59.62

12. Li Yuan (CHN) – 9:14.14

This thrilling final was a highlight of the Nanjing championships so far.  

The past two women’s NCAA 400m champions, Rhasidat Adeleke and Talitha Diggs, will line up for a 300m clash at the Millrose Games in New York on February 11.

Racing them at this season’s penultimate World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting will be Jamaica’s Leah Anderson and Candice McLeod.

Adeleke has already made a strong start to 2024 as she ran 7.15 for 60m and 22.49 for 200m to improve her own Irish indoor records in Albuquerque on 20 January.

The 21-year-old, who finished fourth in the world 400m final last year in Budapest, has raced 300m once before, in 2022 when she ran a national record of 36.87.

In New York she’ll go up against the athlete who preceded her as NCAA 400m champion, Diggs.

USA’s Diggs is set to make her season debut at this weekend’s World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston, where she will also race the 300m.

New York offers a rematch as her PB of 36.37 was set when winning ahead of Adeleke in Clemson in 2022.

Anderson finished third in last year’s Millrose Games 300m in 36.68, while Olympic and world 4x400m medallist McLeod is set to race the distance for the first time.

Joining the already announced Alicia Monson in the two-mile race in New York will be North American mile record-holder Nikki Hiltz, who won the US 1500m title last year and started 2024 by running 2:34.09 for 1000m.

They will race against a field featuring USA’s Emily Infeld and Courtney Wayment, Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, and Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa and Melknat Wudu.

In the high jump, the previously announced Yaroslava Mahuchikh will compete against 2016 world indoor champion Vashti Cunningham, NCAA champion Charity Griffith and Asian Games champion Safina Sadullayeva.

World champion Josh Kerr, U.S. Olympian Elle St. Pierre, and American mile record-holder Nikki Hiltz will headline a world-class professional athlete field that spans 14 different countries at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on Sunday, September 10. The New Balance 5th Avenue Mile – the world’s most iconic road mile race since 1981 – stretches 20 blocks down Manhattan’s most famous thoroughfare.

Great Britain’s Kerr will arrive in New York fresh off winning a world title in the 1,500 meters in Budapest; he is in search of his first victory on 5th Avenue in his second appearance in the event. Kerr also owns an Olympic bronze medal in the 1,500 meters from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

“Winning the World Championships was the culmination of every step of running I’ve ever taken,” Kerr said. “Now, my confidence is higher than it’s ever been, and I have some unfinished business to take care of on 5th Avenue.”

Lining up against Kerr will be New Zealand’s 5,000-meter record-holder George Beamish, and an American contingent led by 2023 Falmouth Mile champion Johnny Gregorek, last year’s 1,500-meter national champion Cooper Teare, two-time 5th Avenue Mile podium finisher Sam Prakel, and U.S. Olympian Woody Kincaid.

In the women’s race, U.S. Olympian St. Pierre will make her return to New York for the first time since finishing as runner-up at the event in 2019. It will also be her first race back since giving birth in March.

“My preparation for the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile this time has been different, as I fit training around feedings, nap time, and playing with Ivan,” St. Pierre said. “But my body feels good, and the workouts have been solid. I’m excited to be back on 5th Avenue this weekend.”

She will be joined at the start line by Hiltz, Great Britain’s 2021 New Balance 5th Avenue Mile champion Jemma Reekie, Great Britain’s reigning 1,500-meter champion Katie Snowden, Mexican record-holder Laura Galvan, Australian record-holder Jessica Hull, Japanese record-holder Nozomi Tanaka, and Jamaican record-holder Adelle Tracey. Olympian Courtney Frerichs and four-time NCAA champion Dani Jones will also toe the line for the U.S.

In addition to professional athlete and age-group heats, this year’s New Balance 5th Avenue Mile will feature Back to School Mile heats for youth, a New Balance Run Your Way Mile for first-time marathoners using NYRR Coaching Lab, a George Sheehan Memorial Mile for seniors, an NYPD and FDNY heat for service members, and NYRR Road Mile Championship races.

In partnership with NYRR and USA Track & Field, NBC will broadcast the event nationally from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET. The broadcast will feature live coverage of the professional athlete races as well as a recap of the day’s earlier heats. Live coverage of the event will be available internationally on USATF.TV.

Two-time defending 20km race walk champion Toshikazu Yamanishi and world javelin bronze medalist Haruka Kitaguchi feature on Japan’s team for the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.

Yamanishi won his first world gold in Doha in 2019 and retained his title in Oregon. He will be joined by Koki Ikeda, Eiki Takahashi and Yuta Koga in the men’s 20km race walk, which is the opening event of the championships on the morning of 19 August.

Kitaguchi finished third behind Kelsey-Lee Barber and Kara Winger in Oregon last year and goes into this year’s event as the women's world javelin leader thanks to the 67.04m national record she achieved in Silesia last month.

Other athletes on the team include national record-holders Shunsuke Izumiya in the 110m hurdles and Nozomi Tanaka in the 1500m and 5000m, plus Sumire Hata and Hiromichi Yoshida in the long jump.

After Budapest, Japan will host the next edition of the World Championships, in Tokyo in 2025.

Japanese team for Budapest

WOMEN

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

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

Had the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 gone ahead in 2021 as originally planned, there’s a strong chance that Letesenbet Gidey would already be a world champion at the discipline.

The Ethiopian was in sensational form in 2020 and 2021, setting world records of 14:06.62 for 5000m and 29:01.03 for 10,000m. She had to settle for bronze at the Olympic Games at the longer event, but she prioritized global honors over records in 2022 and was rewarded with her first world title on the track, winning the 10,000m in Oregon in a nail-biting race.

The 24-year-old is now focused on winning her first individual senior world cross-country title. She won back-to-back U20 crowns in 2015 and 2017, joining an elite club of athletes to achieve the feat, alongside Faith Kipyegon and Genzebe Dibaba.

Gidey finished third in the senior women’s race in 2019 and earned gold in the team competition, but this time she heads to Bathurst as one of the big favorites.

If her performance at the Jan Meda Cross Country – Ethiopia’s trial event for the World Cross – is anything to go by, Gidey is certainly in form to challenge for gold in Bathurst. In that race back on 1 January, she bided her time until the last kilometer of the race and then soon opened up a gap of about 20 seconds on a strong domestic field.

It looked as though she was running within herself, too.

As much as individual glory will be Gidey’s biggest goal on Saturday, she will also want to earn gold in the team standings, and Ethiopia will once again be in with a great shout of doing exactly that.

Gete Alemayehu, who has a 1:06:37 half marathon PB, was second in the trial race, just ahead of 30:06.01 10,000m performer Tsigie Gebreselama, bronze medalist in the U20 race in Aarhus in 2019. Fellow Ethiopian Fotyen Tesfaye just missed out on a top-10 placing in Aarhus, so will be keen to improve on that in Bathurst.

But Gidey and her Ethiopian compatriots won’t have an easy ride, as they’ll be up against someone who is undefeated in international cross-country races for more than a year.

Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel has dominated the World Athletics Cross Country Tour and currently tops the season standings thanks to her three victories last month. She won at the prestigious Campaccio meeting in San Giorgio su Legnano, then two days later triumphed in Elgoibar, winning by eight seconds. More recently she won in Hannut, racing in heavy snow, showing she can cope well in any conditions.

Daniel enjoyed a successful 2022 campaign on the track, setting national records for 5000m (14:36.66) and 10,000m (30:12.15), the latter when placing fifth at the World Championships in Oregon.

But the 21-year-old is clearly more at home on cross country, and despite this being her World Cross debut, Daniel will have high hopes for a podium finish.

Beatrice Chebet is just as formidable an opponent, though. The Kenyan took 5000m silver at the World Championships last year and won the U20 women’s title at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus. She is also the African, Commonwealth and Diamond League 5000m champion, and is a former world U20 champion on the track.

She has raced just twice in cross-country events since the end of the track season, but won both of her races. She won by 13 seconds in Atapuerca in November and by 15 seconds at the Cinque Mulini in January.

In the absence of Chebet at the Kenyan trials, teenager Grace Loibach Nawowuna was a surprising winner of the senior women’s race, beating Olympic semifinalist Edinah Jebitok by four seconds. The Kenyan team also includes two-time world cross-country champion Emily Chebet and Agnes Ngetich.

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba missed the peak of the 2022 track season through injury, but still managed to win three races on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, and then triumphed at the Venta de Banos Cross Country in December. In her latest appearance, though, she was a distant fifth in Elgoibar, some 47 seconds behind Daniel.

Stella Chesang, the 2018 Commonwealth 10,000m champion, was a dominant winner of the recent Ugandan Cross Country Championships and is keen to improve on her 21st-place finish from the 2019 World Cross. She is joined on the Ugandan team by world U20 5000m bronze medallist Prisca Chesang.

Olympic finalist Nozomi Tanaka, who holds national records for 1000m, 1500m and 3000m, leads the Japanese team. The 2018 world U20 3000m champion placed 39th at the last World Cross when she was still just 19 years of age, so she’ll be hoping for a higher position this time. Ririka Hironaka, who earned U20 team bronze in 2019, will also be flying the Japanese flag in Bathurst.

Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati feature on the US team, while Australia’s Rose Davies and Leanne Pompeani will aim to give the home crowd something to cheer for. Other contenders include Canada’s Regan Yee, Mexico’s Laura Galvan, and Britain’s Abbie Donnelly.

Japan has named a team of 65 athletes to represent the host nation at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The line-up features world 20km race walk champion Toshikazu Yamanishi along with four members of the 4x100m squad that took bronze at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Thirteen individual national record-holders have also been selected, including 100m sprinter Ryota Yamagata, middle-distance runner Nozomi Tanaka, sprint hurdlers Shunsuke Izumiya and Asuka Terada, race walker Masatora Kawano and javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi.

Japan had named its marathon squad last year following a highly competitive selection process.

Japanese team for Tokyo

WOMEN

1500m: Nozomi Tanaka, Ran Urabe

5000m: Kaede Hagitani, Ririka Hironaka, Nozomi Tanaka

10,000m: Yuka Ando, Ririka Hironaka, Hitomi Niiya

Marathon: Mao Ichiyama, Honami Maeda, Ayuko Suzuki

3000m steeplechase: Yuno Yamanaka100m hurdles: Masumi Aoki, Ayako Kimura, Asuka Terada

Javelin: Haruka Kitaguchi

20km race walk: Nanako Fujii, Kaori Kawazoe, Kumiko Okada

4x100m: Hanae Aoyama, Yu Ishikawa, Mei Kodama, Ami Saito, Remi Tsuruta,

MEN

100m: Yuki Koike, Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata

200m: Shota Iizuka, Hakim Sani Brown, Jun Yamashita

400m: Julian Walsh

5000m: Yuta Bando, Hiroki Matsueda

10,000m: Akira Aizawa, Tatsuhiko Ito

Marathon: Yuma Hattori, Shogo Nakamura, Suguro Osako

3000m steeplechase: Ryoma Aoki, Ryuji Miura, Kosei Yamaguchi

110m hurdles: Shunsuke Izumiya, Taioh Kanai, Shunya Takayama

400m hurdles: Kazuki Kurokawa, Abe Takatoshi, Hiromu Yamauchi

High jump: Takashi Eto, Naoto TobePole

vault: Masaki Ejima, Seito YamamotoLong

jump: Yuki Hashioka, Hibiki Tsuha, Shotaro Shiroyama

Javelin: Takuto Kominami

20km race walk: Koki Ikeda, Eiki Takahashi, Toshikazu Yamanishi

50km race walk: Hayato Katsuki, Masatora Kawano, Satoshi Maruo

4x100m: Bruno Dede, Yoshihide Kiryu, Yuki Koike, Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata

4x400m: Rikuya Ito, Kaito Kawabata, Kentaro Sato, Aoto Suzuki, Julian Walsh.

It may not have been the competition that Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium had originally been set to host in August 2020, but Japan’s leading athletes got a taste of the big time at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on Sunday (23).

To help minimise risks, no spectators were present and the fields were entirely made up of domestic athletes. But thousands of fans were still able to tune in via TV coverage and the live stream to watch Japan’s leading athletes in action.

They rose to the occasion, too, especially Nozomi Tanaka. The world U20 3000m champion stepped down in distance to the 1500m and front-ran her way to a national record. The 20-year-old had announced her intentions to break the mark ahead of the race, having come within a second of Yuriko Kobayashi’s 14-year-old mark (4:07.86) with a 4:08.68 clocking in Shibetsu last month.

With no pacemakers, Tanaka started conservatively and led the field through the first lap in 66.42. Japanese 800m and 1500m champion Ran Urabe, compatriot Kaede Hagitani and Kenya’s Japan-based Hellen Lobun were the only ones capable of following the early pace.

At 800m, reached in 2:11.91, Urabe moved into second place as Lobun and Hagitani dropped behind. Tanaka continued to wind up the pace, and after hearing the bell ring with 3:02.37 on the clock, she kicked it up another gear and pulled away from Urabe.

Tanaka flew around the final lap in 63 seconds to cross the line in 4:05.27, smashing the national record by two seconds. Urabe finished six seconds in arrears, clocking 4:11.75.

"I thought about all kinds of race plans, but I also knew that if I thought about it too much, I’d get anxious," said Tanaka, whose mother, Chihiro, is a two-time Hokkaido Marathon champion. "So today I decided not to be too conscious of the time and to just run. I’ve been confident with my finish in training, so I just gave everything I had. I realised in the final 100 metres that I was going to break the national record.

"I’m very excited that I finally broke the national record that had been held by Yuriko Kobayashi, who is from my home town," added Tanaka, who is coached by her father, Katsutoshi. "With my performance today I was able to show my appreciation towards to the people who have supported me."

Most of Japan’s finest athletes will be out in force for the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Tokyo, on Sunday (23).

The meeting, to be staged at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, was initially intended as a late spring preview for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but those plans were halted in their tracks with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Postponed at first from its original date, it’s now being held as a national event without spectators to align with restrictions on public gatherings. Nonetheless, it will still provide a strong competitive opportunity for Japanese athletes on the track that will host the Games next year.

World U20 3000m champion Nozomi Tanaka will be the focus of attention after her 8:41.35 performance in Fukagawa last month to break the national 3000m record. She will contest the 1500m on Sunday where she’s already improved to 4:08.68 this season, not too far from the national record of 4:07.86.

The men’s 100m features five of the fastest 11 Japanese men of all time. Asian champion Yoshihide Kiryu, the first Japanese athlete to break the 10-second barrier, has a 9.98 career best as does Yuki Koike, who clocked his at the Diamond League meeting in London Last year.

They'll be joined by Ryota Yamagata, who has clocked 10.00, and Shuhei Tada, who led off Japan's bronze-winning quartet at the past two World Championships. Kiryu and Koike (heats) were also on the 4x100m relay squad in Doha.

Aska Cambridge, a 4x100m relay Olympic silver medallist in Rio four years ago, will also be in the field.

The men’s 200m features Olympic 4x100m silver medallist Shota Iizuka and world 4x100m bronze medallist Kirara Shiraishi.

Sprint hurdlers Shunya Takayama and Asuka Terada will also be in action. Takayama twice equalled the Japanese 110m hurdles record of 13.36 last year before breaking it outright with 13.30 and then reducing it further to 13.25. Terada set two national records last year in the 100m hurdles, first with 13.00 and then with 12.97 two weeks later.

On the infield, the men’s long jump is building to be a competitive event, with Koki Fujihara, who broke the Japanese U20 record last year with 8.12m, taking on national record-holder Shoutarou Shiroyama and 2018 world U20 champion Yuki Hashioka.

Naoto Tobe, the World Indoor Tour winner in the high jump in 2019, heads the field in his event. Tobe, who improved to 2.35m indoors in 2019, will take on Takashi Eto, a 2.30m jumper. Daichi Sawano, Seito Yamamoto and Masaki Ejima, all 5.71m men last season, will compete in the pole vault.

National record-holder Haruka Kitaguchi leads the javelin throw field, joined by three other Japanese women who’ve thrown beyond 60 metres: 2018 national champion Marina Saito, 2011 Asian bronze medallist Yuka Sato and two-time Asian bronze medallist Risa Miyashita.

The men’s javelin is of a similar high standard with four 80-metre throwers entered: Asian bronze medallist Ryohei Arai, 2012 Olympic finalist Genki Dean, Takuto Kominami and Yuta Sakiyama.

Organisers will also provide some of Japan's finest high school athletes an opportunity to compete against their nation's best athletes on the Olympic Stadium track through a ‘Dream Lane’ set aside in nine men’s and nine women’s events.

The decision to include high school athletes came after the Interscholastic Sport Games, the annual national high school championships in 30 sports, were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A selection committee, which included 2000 Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi, 2008 Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist Shinji Takahira and High Performance Committee Track & Field Director Kazuhiko Yamazaki, selected 28 athletes. Some of the athletes include Kosuke Kawata, who has a 10.39 best in the 100m and Haruto Ishizuka, a 3:44.62 1500m runner.

Organizers of the Seiko Golden Grand Prix have announced another wave of Japanese stars – including four national record-holders – for the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Tokyo on 23 August.

World U20 3000m champion Nozomi Tanaka will head to Tokyo looking to extend her winning streak. The 20-year-old won four consecutive races last month and broke the Japanese 3000m record with 8:41.35 in Fukagawa. She will contest the 1500m in the Japanese capital and after going to No.2 on the Japanese all-time list with 4:08.68 last month, she will have one eye on the national record of 4:07.86.

Sprint hurdlers Shunya Takayama and Asuka Terada will also be in action at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix. Takayama twice equalled the Japanese 110m hurdles record of 13.36 last year before breaking it outright with 13.30 and then reducing it further to 13.25. He capped his 2019 campaign by reaching the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Terada set two national records last year in the 100m hurdles, first with 13.00 and then with 12.97 two weeks later.

"I am so happy to race at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix 2020 Tokyo," said Terada. "We are fortunate to have this event despite the pandemic. From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to express my respect and gratitude to all the medical workers and people involved in preparing this stage on which we feel safe and we can focus on our performance.

"This would be my first race of the season and my return to the Golden Grand Prix for the first time in nine years, since the first edition in 2011. I'm really excited to race in the new stadium that will be the venue for the Olympic Games next year. I will race as if this were the actual Olympic Games!

"I will miss the fans in the stadium but with television coverage and internet streaming fans won’t need to miss us."

Sho Kawamoto is the fourth national record-holder who will be racing in Tokyo. The 27-year-old won the 800m at the 2014 Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo in a Japanese record of 1:45.75.

Other confirmed athletes include Olympic 4x100m silver medallist Shota Iizuka and world 4x100m bronze medallist Kirara Shiraishi, who will clash in the men’s 200m, and rising Japanese stars Midori Mikase in the 100m and Reimi Yoshimura in the steeplechase, the national U20 record-holders in their respective events.

Ten days after opening her 2020 track campaign with a 5000m win in Fukagawa, Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru was once again victorious, this time over 10,000m, on Wednesday (15) in Abashiri at the third meeting in the Hokuren Distance Challenge series.

The 25-year-old finished 45 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Japan’s Mao Ichiyama, to win in 30:38.18, just three seconds shy of the PB she set when finishing fourth over the distance at last year’s World Championships in Doha.

Wanjiru led from the outset and after just a couple of laps had only two other women for company: Japan’s Mao Ichiyama and Mizuki Matsuda. After covering the first kilometer in 3:08, Wanjiru started to gradually increase the pace.

Ichiyama, who earned selection for Japan’s Olympic team after winning this year’s Nagoya Marathon in 2:20:29, started to lose contact with Wanjiru about 10-and-a-half minutes into the race. Wanjiru, meanwhile, was locked into 3:04-3:05 kilometer pace, reaching the half-way point in 15:24.

She covered the second half even quicker and, increasing her winning margin with each lap, crossed the finish line in 30:38.18. Needless to say, in a year with very few competitions, Wanjiru’s time is a world-leading mark. Although it was close to her track PB, Wanjiru has clocked 29:50 – the third-fastest time in history – on the roads.

Running alone for the final six kilometers, Ichiyama held on to second place and was rewarded with a PB of 31:23.30.

Jonathan Ndiku, best known for his steeplechase exploits, won the men’s 10,000m ‘A’ race in 27:23.47. The two-time world U20 steeplechase champion finished comfortably ahead of fellow Kenyans Alexander Mutiso (27:44.37) and Richard Kimunyan Yator (27:49.35). Yuma Hattori, who has also been named on Japan’s Olympic marathon team, was fourth in 27:56.32, taking 13 seconds off his PB from five years ago.

Elsewhere in Abashiri, world U20 champion Nozomi Tanaka – who last week set a Japanese 3000m record of 8:41.35 – won the women’s 5000m in 15:02.62, beating Kenya’s Hellen Ekarare (15:03.09). Benard Kibet Koech, meanwhile, won the men’s 5000m in 13:11.77.

This track season has seen a strange amount of mishaps. It started with Hagos Gebrhiwet miscounting his laps at the Lausanne 5,000m and was followed by Jonathan Jones missing the false start at the Monaco 400m and finishing the race.

The latest is from Japanese runner Nozomi Tanaka, who miscounted the laps in her national 3,000m record attempt on Wednesday. Japan Running News reported that with 800m to go (two laps) Tanaka broke away and opened up a sizable lead.

The runner said post-race, “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I lost count of the laps and thought I was on the last lap when I kicked. I didn’t have anything left after that.”

Tanaka finished in 8:48.38, under four seconds off of the national record of 8:44.40 set in 2002.

Jenny Simpson, one of the all-time greatest American runners, made a similar mistake in 2014 when she miscounted the laps in an indoor 2-mile, but still managed to come close to breaking the American record in the event.

World Championship finalist Lopez Lomong also fell victim to the lap miscount in 2012 at Payton Jordan, when he kicked too early but still held on to take the win in 13:11 over 5,000m.