Phenomenal Japanese sprinter with lots of potential and did relatively well at this year's Olympics. He clocked in at 10.07 during his first round heats in the 100 meters. He's only 20 years old, so surely in a few years time he should be easily beating the 10 second barrier? And I wonder what the naysayers have to say about the stereotype that Asians will never break the 10 second barrier?
Be proud to be White wrote:
Aren't Caucasians, Asians ?
For the most part Caucasians are part Asian and part Caucasoid aka Aryan (present day Iran). The further south you go in Eurasian increases the Semitic and African content. There is no set mixture for any human. You have to look the each persons genes to determine the exact proportions.
Interesting, the track in London was very fast, and a lot of times were boosted thanks to wind. The conditions were surprisingly good.
While Ryota may be 20, 10.07 is a big step. I do not expect him or Gemili to improve much next season as a lot of the times got an Olympic boost that is hard to get conditions to match in most races. Yes they may both be young, but everyone always underestimates the effect the Olympics and a fast track with good conditions in that environment have. Its huge.
He might get down in the low 10's and threaten but if he does break 10, it won't be by a lot Ryota's form, start, all looked pretty solid. I was very impressed by his start, as he didn't look like a big guy. Where does the improvement come from? Gemili likewise. Ryota is capable of 10.00-9.95 assuming he puts everything together in his best years, and Gemili slightly faster.
As per alltime-athletics.com, Japanese sprinters who have run as fast or faster than Yamagata:
10.00 (+1.9) - Koji Ito, 1998
10.02 (+2.0) - Nobuharu Asahara, 2001
10.03 (+1.8) - Shingo Suetsugu, 2003
10.07 (+1.9) - Masashi Eriguchi, 2009
All of them except Eriguchi were also under 10.07 on other occasions with less wind. But yes, for his age Yamagata is doing great and there's lots of reason to hope he'll get there.
Fast track wrote:
Interesting, the track in London was very fast, and a lot of times were boosted thanks to wind. The conditions were surprisingly good.
Yamagata also ran 10.08 in June, so the 10.07 was not entirely due to wind and a fast track.
Where did Yamagata run this 10.08 in June?
While you do make a point, but there is one key interesting thing that can probably help propel him past the 10 second barrier: muscle mass. He's 5'9 at 147 lbs, and is already doing so well while being built like a rake. Contrast him with Tyson Gay who is only an inch taller but has more than 20 lbs on him.
If he were to put on at least 15 lbs of lean muscle mass, I could definitely see him in the 100m OC and WC finals, even if he folds terribly. But imagine what that will do for the sport? Seeing an Asian man sprinting in the 100m finals will definitely spark a sort of "arms race" in East Asia and suddenly we will start to see more and more sub-10 second Asian sprinters.
The days of 8 West African descent sprinters lining up for the 100m finals are numbered.
AsianTrackExpert wrote:
Where did Yamagata run this 10.08 in June?
Not Half wrote:
Be proud to be White wrote:Aren't Caucasians, Asians ?
For the most part Caucasians are part Asian and part Caucasoid aka Aryan (present day Iran). The further south you go in Eurasian increases the Semitic and African content. There is no set mixture for any human. You have to look the each persons genes to determine the exact proportions.
And it's.....................
RANDY MIYIZAKI
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The OP is a member of Storm Watch.
Fast track wrote:
I do not expect him or Gemili to improve much next season as a lot of the times got an Olympic boost that is hard to get conditions to match in most races. Yes they may both be young, but everyone always underestimates the effect the Olympics and a fast track with good conditions in that environment have.
On the other hand you probably underestimate the fact that Gemili's PB from last year was not set at the Olympics.
OMG more Rush Limbaugh clones. Drats.
Timed wrote:
Seeing an Asian man sprinting in the 100m finals will definitely spark a sort of "arms race" in East Asia and suddenly we will start to see more and more sub-10 second Asian sprinters.
I'd say Japan beating the U.S. and getting bronze in the 4x100 in Beijing already started that arms race and that Yamagata was more a product of that. Since then we've also seen Iizuka win 200 m gold at World Jr's, Kiryu get the 100m youth WR, etc. Things are just bubbling up nicely.
Fast track wrote:
Interesting, the track in London was very fast, and a lot of times were boosted thanks to wind. The conditions were surprisingly good.
While Ryota may be 20, 10.07 is a big step. I do not expect him or Gemili to improve much next season as a lot of the times got an Olympic boost that is hard to get conditions to match in most races. Yes they may both be young, but everyone always underestimates the effect the Olympics and a fast track with good conditions in that environment have. Its huge.
He might get down in the low 10's and threaten but if he does break 10, it won't be by a lot Ryota's form, start, all looked pretty solid. I was very impressed by his start, as he didn't look like a big guy. Where does the improvement come from? Gemili likewise. Ryota is capable of 10.00-9.95 assuming he puts everything together in his best years, and Gemili slightly faster.
Even if he is only capable of 10.09, what would make you think a 20 year old can't improve by tent of second in a 10 year career. On second thought, Japan has produced a lot of 10.1/10.2 guys who didn't get much faster, although none of them was ran this fast at age 20.
His legs are SHORT.
That hurts him a lot. His start is very fast, but if he wants to break 10 he's going to have to get his start and drive/acceleration perfect and then speed maintenance and a hard lean.
He could run some very fast 60's indoors thats for sure.
None of the Japanese are currently threats on the world stage.
Historically some Japanese guys have been very good, but not great.
There are lots of elite guys who can now ease up in 10-flat. Furthermore, there are lots of American and Jamaican guys, even Trinidadian who are faster than the Japanese over 100m, but who don't run it because they get smoked in their home country.
Also, they do well on relay because they are disciplined and their exchanges are good, but they don't have enough top-end to compete with the likes of the best, like Jam, USA, Can, Trini, France. I know they finished just outside those last 3 in the Olympics, but for instance France, USA, and Jam all owned Japan on the 2nd leg, and Canada, Trini, USA and Jam owned Japan on the anchor. On leadoff, USA/Jam crushed Japan.
The thing is, it always seems that Japan performs to their potential, which is great to see--but it also means that improvement will be difficult to find.
The days of a bunch of west Africans in the final are not over, not by a long shot. Osovnikar was an anomaly in his day, he ran well in the rounds. Lemaitre was an anomaly, who has gone only downhill since, while other guys have been stepping up, all of west African descent. Even Lemaitre has essentially now been replaced by Vicaut, and Gemili just might be eclipsed by Dasaolu this year, if his indoor result is any indication.
Sprintgeezer wrote:
Also, they do well on relay because they are disciplined and their exchanges are good, but they don't have enough top-end to compete with the likes of the best, like Jam, USA, Can, Trini, France.
And yet they beat the US, Canada and France for bronze in Beijing, beat Canada and France in London, and have not lost to Canada at an Olympics or World Championships since before 2000.
Sprintgeezer wrote:
Lemaitre was an anomaly, who has gone only downhill since, while other guys have been stepping up, all of west African descent. Even Lemaitre has essentially now been replaced by Vicaut, and Gemili just might be eclipsed by Dasaolu this year, if his indoor result is any indication.
Lemaitre was 3rd/4th in Worlds just a year and a half ago, and ran great rounds before "bombing" with a 6th place finish in the Olympics. At 22, do you really think he's on the decline?
troof--
You are completely mistaken.
They did not beat France in London, they were slower by .19
Everybody knows that Canada soundly beat Japan, as well as France, in London, and that they finished just ahead of Trini.
In Beijing, they "beat" the USA not because they were faster, but because USA was DQ'd.
In Beijing, France was rebuilding and almost made it into the final, FROM LANE 1.
And there are other countries Japan will have to be worried about: Brazil, Nigeria, even maybe places like SKN, Bahamas, and Italy.
Every time I get to thinking about this, I think that I should start up a serious program in Nigeria.
Canada and France are only getting better, Trini is young and strong, SKN has been setting relay national records regularly without Collins, Brazil will want to build well for Rio 2016, etc. There are lots of teams that are improving noticeably--heck, even the Jamaicans and Americans have been improving, while the Japanese seem to have remained static.
Japan has only 1 Olympic medal in the relay, that bronze from Beijing, and that was largely due to the Americans being DQ'd.
Make no mistake, I think they are very solid, and quite excellent. They are always in the mix, and execute well, and I'm always cheering for them. I'm just not seeing any development potential, unless they seek some medical attention. Their strength is in their organization, their weakness in their top-end.
When you watch especially the anchors or 2nd legs, you realize where their weakness lies. They haven't been able to compete on that basis, and their best guy gets smoked by the best guys from other countries--the best they can hope for is that their organization throughout the race will be enough to offset inferior speed--but with so many countries coming on with guys who are really fast with good SE, the Japanese are likely to fade in the standings.
What about utilizing PED to get under 10? It'll be level playing field if he uses it. Or, do you think he's already on some drugs? I never hear of Japanese athletes using PEDs, but that doesn't mean they don't use it.