Truly incredible: Top Japanese HS team has 7 man avg 5k pb of 14:08

World Juniors often doesn't get the best runners from each country, and it also includes 19 year olds out of high school.

The three Japanese women below (with our best, Kastor, for reference) did just fine outside of Japan.

Noguchi moves up to #8 all time when Rita Jeptoo's Boston 2:18:57a is stricken from the books.

9 2:19:12 Mizuki Noguchi JPN 03.07.78 1 Berlin 25.09.2005

15 2:19:36 Deena Kastor USA 14.02.73 1 London 23.04.2006

17 2:19:41 Yoko Shibui JPN 14.03.79 1 Berlin 26.09.2004

19 2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi JPN 06.05.72 1 Berlin 30.09.2001

jjjjjj wrote:

World Juniors often doesn't get the best runners from each country, and it also includes 19 year olds out of high school.

The three Japanese women below (with our best, Kastor, for reference) did just fine outside of Japan.

Noguchi moves up to #8 all time when Rita Jeptoo's Boston 2:18:57a is stricken from the books.

9 2:19:12 Mizuki Noguchi JPN 03.07.78 1 Berlin 25.09.2005

15 2:19:36 Deena Kastor USA 14.02.73 1 London 23.04.2006

17 2:19:41 Yoko Shibui JPN 14.03.79 1 Berlin 26.09.2004

19 2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi JPN 06.05.72 1 Berlin 30.09.2001

Which raises the question: where have the Japanese women distance runners been the last (almost) decade?? For a while there it looked like they might take over from the Africans and Russkies, but have since faded off, despite apparently impressive depth at the HS level. Meanwhile the "underperforming at HS" American women keep in it with athletes like Shalane and now, Molly Huddle. I'm excluding middle distance of course, as it is a rout for America for the forseeable future.

Something strange is going on there.

Japan's athletic talent is better suited for 100km than 10km.

jdjd wrote:

How high could they place in the NCAA D1 (assuming they are as good at 10k as they are 5k which they probably are being in Japan)?

So, if you look at the comparisons listed on that chart, University of Colorado men average 14:05.

For the women, where the top Japanese team is 9:13 for 3K, Michigan St. is 9:22.

Something's not right here. How old are these high school students? Who verifies the times? Do they do anything besides run? How many hours of classes a day?

Brett Larner, can you weigh in? Rojo / Wejo, can you give him a call??

1.The students are the same age as students in the US.

2. Their times are verified by the same kinds of people as in the US, track officials.

3. They have about five-six hours of class a day.

4. If they are on a top team they are given lots of leeway in the classroom. It is not uncommon for athletes to sleep through their classes.

deverse wrote:

The Genius :: wrote:

[quote]deverse wrote:

[quote]They are Japanese that's why wrote:

[quote]deverse wrote:

[quote]d fj wrote:

Americans have more outliers due to greater diversity than the Japanese.

Lol how do you know Americans have more diversity than the Japanese?

Is this serious? Japan has a much more ethnically homogeneous population that the US, which has always been known for immigrants coming from all over the world.

zatopek3210 wrote:

2. Their times are verified by the same kinds of people as in the US, track officials.

Are the listings of 3k girls and 5k boys all from track times?

Track times? wrote:

zatopek3210 wrote:

2. Their times are verified by the same kinds of people as in the US, track officials.

Are the listings of 3k girls and 5k boys all from track times?

Yes. Those are the standard distances for HS there (instead of 3200)

deverse wrote:

They are Japanese that's why wrote:

Because the Japanese are almost all Japanese.

And Americans are almost all Americans genius.

Japanese is a subset of the Asian race. Genetically the Japanese are incredibly homogeneous.

America has become genetically heterogeneous.

Americans tend to emphasize slow races with a kick, which IMHO is retarded.

The Japanese have so much competition that they go for times, are much more interested in times than (empty) victories, and this increases their abilities to run fast.

"Americans tend to emphasize slow races with a kick, which IMHO is retarded."

^This is why the 10k will get dropped at the Olympics: for men, 25 minutes of hobbyjogging followed by less than 2 minutes of actual running.

zatopek3210 wrote:

1.The students are the same age as students in the US.

2. Their times are verified by the same kinds of people as in the US, track officials.

3. They have about five-six hours of class a day.

4. If they are on a top team they are given lots of leeway in the classroom. It is not uncommon for athletes to sleep through their classes.

It's still not believable. Sorry.

Next.

The Genius :: wrote:

Which proves my point, because Americans have more diversity.

No. That is not proof. Taking a genetic sample of the population is how you prove genetic diversity. But even your flawed notion of proof isn't correct. American distance running is participated in by mostly one group - white people. So not even diverse using your own poor reasoning.

RIP Oly 10k wrote:

"Americans tend to emphasize slow races with a kick, which IMHO is retarded."

^This is why the 10k will get dropped at the Olympics: for men, 25 minutes of hobbyjogging followed by less than 2 minutes of actual running.

Yes, you're probably right.

I like the 10k when people run fast, but that's not usually the case anymore.

deverse wrote:

The Genius :: wrote:

Which proves my point, because Americans have more diversity.

No. That is not proof. Taking a genetic sample of the population is how you prove genetic diversity. But even your flawed notion of proof isn't correct. American distance running is participated in by mostly one group - white people. So not even diverse using your own poor reasoning.

You can't even spell, and your false arguments have no merit.

well..... wrote:

zatopek3210 wrote:

1.The students are the same age as students in the US.

2. Their times are verified by the same kinds of people as in the US, track officials.

3. They have about five-six hours of class a day.

4. If they are on a top team they are given lots of leeway in the classroom. It is not uncommon for athletes to sleep through their classes.

It's still not believable. Sorry.

Next.

Based on everything I know, the Japanese HS kids are legit age wise, accurate distances and timing. The Japanese HS kids are simply very good at longer distances at a younger age compared to U.S. kids. The most interested fact is how well their juniors do at WXC usually finishing 3-5, while the seniors rarely crack the top-10

TrackCoach wrote:

Based on everything I know, the Japanese HS kids are legit age wise, accurate distances and timing. The Japanese HS kids are simply very good at longer distances at a younger age compared to U.S. kids. The most interested fact is how well their juniors do at WXC usually finishing 3-5, while the seniors rarely crack the top-10

Is it possible that on average Japanese reach physical maturity a bit earlier than Americans?

Plausible explanation wrote:

Americans tend to emphasize slow races with a kick, which IMHO is retarded.

So, trying to win is retarded?

OK

TrackCoach wrote: The most interested fact is how well their juniors do at WXC usually finishing 3-5, while the seniors rarely crack the top-10

Japanese display more neoteny as adults compared to other races. Maybe they just don't masculinize as much as the others.