Japanese B heat 5k winner 13:00 5k

Is that 4-5 guys at 13:00... wow.

Looks like a dang Diamond League!

Page is down.

Winner Richard Etir is 19. He ran a 27:06 10k on 4/22 to slot in #2 so far this year, .5 behind Kincaid.

BK broke 13:00 25-30 years ago. An American breaking 13:00 should be common place and we should have dozens doing it.

Alan

This link seems to be working now:

Why? The Kenyan national record remains Komen’s 12:39. The European mile record remains Cram’s 3:46.32. You can argue about how much faster Kennedy would run if he was competing today, but the fact is he was exceptional then and would be exceptional now. As is, the U.S. is still the best 5k country in the world outside of 2-3 countries in East Africa.

Yeah and in that era was the American 5k depth even close to what it is now?

When is the "A" Heat?

Correct.

Turns out the A heat was more for Japanese guys to hit standards. This all-Kenyan heat was the fastest heat by a lot. Pretty big PBs for the top 4, I don’t think any had run under 13:11 before.

EDIT: to the US discussion, it’s worth noting that in 2017, Kenya had one guy in the final and he finished 2nd to DFL. These things change quickly…

Yeah it was a great race. Jacob Krop was supposed to race but for whatever reason didn't despite having been in Japan. Maybe he'll go back home and race Kip Keino? C heat was quite good with Anthony Maina winning in 13:12.26, but the depth in this B heat was fantastic, Tatsuhiko Ito was the fastest Japanese athlete in the B heat with a 13:17, quicker than the A heat winning time.

Here are the results:

http://ggn.goldengames.jp/cgi/menu.cgi?menu=1&base=2023/23ggn&mode=1_4_4&r_n=%8C%88%8F%9F&dopt=1&exit=1

Here is the meet broadcast: (The B heat starts at roughly 5:14:00)

The Krop saga is confusing, that’s for sure. I’m assuming you are right and he’s making a good business decision here. He also didn’t race at Adizero Road to Records which was a tad unusual if it wasn’t to race in Japan. Assuming we’ll get some resolution on him and Beatrice Chebet (skipped BAA 5K). She was called out by a fellow Kenyan Agnes Ngetich for that and then challenged to show up at Kip Keino.

34th Golden Games, Nobeoka, Japan, May 4, 2023

Not sure what the weather conditions were like, but may we assume they were good in view of the phenomenal depth and fast times.

Phenomenal depth in this meeting, not only for the Japanese athletes but also for the Kenyan sponsored athletes, most of whom are in the 18 - 20 years of age group, like 20 year old R.Etir, Kenya, winner of the 5000 Final 2 race in 13:00.17, with the first 5 under 13:03.00! So many monsters.
Here is a quick summary of the meeting.
5000 Final 1:
1. S. Yoshi Japan 13:27.33
2. T.Ogikubo Japan 13:30.13
3. A.Kajiwara Japan 13:30.56
Followed by 19 runners under 14:00.00, all Japanese.
Final 2:
1. R.Etir 13:00.17
2. B.Kibet 13:00.38
3. E.Kiplagat 13:00.90
4. M.Temoi 13:01.48 (18 years old!)
5. B.Kiplangat 13:02.74
6. V.Yegon 13:13.22
7. R.Yator 13:13.25
8. S.Mburu 13:13.43
12. T.Ito Japan 13:17.65 (first Japanese) (in this race, 13 sub 13:20.00, all Kenyans except Ito, + 6 Japanese sub 14:00.000)
Final 3:
1. A.Kibe Kenya 13:12.26
2. E.Kipshirchir 13:15.54
3. C.Kamau 13:16.91 (in this race, 5 Kenyans sub 13:20.00, 12 Kenyans sub 13:30.00, 22 Kenyans sub 14:00.00!)
Final 4:
1. K.Yokota 13:31.60 (in this race, 23 runners sub 14:00.00, composed of 16 Japanese, 6 Kenyans and 1 Morocccan)
Final 5:
1. T.Matsuoka 13:39.00 (in this race, 20 Japanese sub 14:00.00)
Final 6:
1. H.Mera 13:53.24 (9 Japanese sub 14:00.00 in this race)
Final 7:
1. S.Sato 13:47.71 (10 Japanese sub 14:00.00)
Final 8:
1. S.Nagato 14:04.76 (in this race 10 Japanese sub 14:20.00)
Final 9:
1. N.Kamimura 14:07.53 (in this race 14 Japanese sub 14:30.00)
Final 10:
1. S.Jinnai Japan 14:27.09 (18 years old)

10,000 Final
1.K.Shiojiri 27:46.82
2. R.Tazawa 27:51.21 (13:22.60/ 27:23.44 - 2021)
3. Y.Imae 27:55.82 (27:50.53/1:00:33 (11 Japanese sub 28:30.00 in this race)

Phenomenal depth Japan. I would say that Japan is the best country in the world to be a distance runner overall.

worldathletics.org

34th Golden Games | Results | World Athletics

World Athletics Events and Results

Open link

A total of 80 runners from Japan under 14 minutes for 5,000 on this one day and this one meeting. Unprecedented?

Bob Kennedy broke 13:00 twice. The first was a race in Stockholm in July of 1996 where he finished 2nd, 7 seconds behind Daniel Komen. After the Olympics he broke his AR again (which would stand for 13 years), running 12:58.21 in Zurich, finishing 5th, more than 13 seconds behind Komen again. 6 of the top 10 times ever in the 5000 were run between 1995-1998, all by Komen and Geb.

Yes, Kennedy was far and away the best 5000 meter runner in the USA back then. But his international competitiveness was behind where Grant Fisher is right now.

When Dathan (Ritzenhein) ran 12:56.27 in Zurich, August 2009, I was on the edge of my seat, gobsmacked, with tears of emotion cascading from my eyes. That was a monster performance by Ritz!

Ritz had the physiology of a half marathon runner, that was his sweet spot, so running 12:56.27 was absolutely monster like. 2009, long before Super shoes. Ritz, big time Hall of Fame, American Distance Running.

Does the country actually have more depth, or is the distance running community there just better at getting the depth to all show up at the same races? I remember there was a thread about some half marathon in Japan (and not an Oly qualifier one or elite time trial) where 100th place was under 1:04 or something. There are 100+ guys in the U.S. who can run under 1:04 -- of course. Maybe the U.S. running community just sucks at organizing events with deep fields.

Look at how pathetic road races are in general here. They'll all mismeasured, no prize $, sometimes don't even shut down roads because it's too expensive, horribly advertised, hit-or-miss as far as competition, sometimes the timing is off, etc.