16/03/2020   Our Japanese piece of cake






 

 

 

It is not part of our task, much less the orientation that we wanted to give to this specialized web page, to give indications on the possible or hypothetical names of the national teams participating in major international events.

 

But in this period of home boredom due to the COVID-19 infection, also to distract us from the effects of the virus, we are trying to reason over any reasoning regarding race walk that could lead to a discussion.

 

One of the realities that we know very well is that of Japan.

Since 2004, our attendance has become more intense, and the friendly relations with the current Head Coach of the Rising Sun, Fumio Imamura, and his collaborators Koji Hoga Miura and Shigeyuki Shimizu are marked by a deep friendship and exchange of ideas.

The same close collaboration took place with the judging body under the leadership of Akira Fujisaki and which now includes the two international judges of Asia: Tomoya Ishii and Video Yamada.

 

Without these two important preliminary remarks we would like to venture into a difficult and important "as if" today, but we repeat we do it more for fun and for distraction from daily boredom.

How would we behave if we were in the role of Fumio Imamura and his team in choosing the three athletes to enter the Olympic Games?

 

Good question our readers will say.

But a very difficult choice considering that at the moment the 20km world ranking in this crazy competitive season sees 5 athletes from Japan in the first 5 positions and 7 athletes in the first 10 positions.

 



 

  Mark Competitor Nat Venue Date
1:17:36 Toshikazu YAMANISHI JPNJPN Kobe (JPN) 16 FEB 2020
1:18:22 Koki IKEDA JPNJPN Nomi (JPN) 15 MAR 2020
1:18:29 Eiki TAKAHASHI JPNJPN Nomi (JPN) 15 MAR 2020
1:18:36 Yusuke SUZUKI JPNJPN Nomi (JPN) 15 MAR 2020
1:18:42 Yuta KOGA JPNJPN Nomi (JPN) 15 MAR 2020
1:19:31 Salih KORKMAZ TURTUR Antalya (TUR) 16 FEB 2020
1:19:34 Perseus KARLSTRÖM SWESWE Kobe (JPN) 16 FEB 2020
1:19:34 Sergey SHIROBOKOV RUSRUS Sochi (RUS) 17 FEB 2020
1:20:15 Isamu FUJISAWA JPNJPN Kobe (JPN) 16 FEB 2020
10  1:20:26 Tomohiro NODA JPNJPN Kobe (JPN) 16 FEB 2020

 

 

 

The choices of Japan usually and historically are based on the victories obtained by their top athletes in the following races:

- National 20km championship in Kobe

- National 50km championship in Wajima

- 20km Asian Championships in Nomi

- All Japan 50km in Takahata which takes place however at the end of the season, which is why they always refer to the winner of the previous season.

 

And we come to our 20km.

In this case, the choice is at least for the first of the three places in being facilitated by the fact that the reigning World Champion, Toshikazu Yamanishi, also won the Kobe el 2020 edition.

The following table compares the results of the first three athletes in Kobe 2020 with those of Nomi 2020.

 

 

 

Athlete  Kobe 2020 Nomi 2020 Difference
       
Toshikazu Yamanishi 1:17:36 - -
       
Koki Ikeda 1:19:07 1:18:22 - 0:45
       
Eiki Talahashi 1:19:53 1:18:29 - 1:24
       
Yusuke Suzuki - 1:18:36 -

 

 

 

In Kobe the second place went to Koky Ikeda while the third to Eiki Takahashi.

In Nomi, absent Yamanishi, the victory was for Ikeda and second place for Takahashi.

But in Kobe, Eiki Takahashi, he had suffered a 2 minute penalty due to three red cards (2 for loss of contact and 1 for bent knee). Despite the stop he had finished in 1:19:53.

With a little more accuracy he would have finished second in a time between 1:17:53 and 1:18:30.

 

And it was precisely this accuracy that was Takahashi's choice in Nomi where he himself in the post race declared that he could have been a candidate for victory, but Kobe's mistake did not give him this peace of mind. It was better to swallow the internal feeling of victory, also dismissing with it the risk of penalty, which this time would certainly have excluded him from the shortlist of the claimants.

A third place then 7 seconds from Ikeda which takes on a prestigious value.

 

If we know Fumio Imamura well, his choice for the 20km race to be held in Sapporo will be: Toshikazu Yamanishi, Koky Ikeda, Eiki Takahashi.

 

For today we have finished our piece of cake.

We will do another one after Wajima for the 50km.