The 66th edition of the Kansai Inter-corporate track & field Championships took place this morning in Kansai (JPN).
The two walking events took place over the 5,000m track walk distance.
5.000m track walk men
Twelve athletes at the start.
From this test came a very interesting performance with the victory of Yuta Koga (JPN), an athlete trained by the well-known biomechanic of Japan, Koji Hoga Miura.
Yuta Koga won the race in 19:14.95 which represents the third best seasonal world distance performance after that of the two Australian athletes (Declan Tingay: 18:24.50 and Rhydian Cowlay: 19:12.20) who had obtained it at Lakeside Melbourne Stadium.
Yuta Koga is not a new name in the Japanese walking world and boasts a personal best on 20km. of 1:18:42 established in Nomi (JPN) on March 15, 2020.
His was a race of incredible regularity with the final result obtained with these passes every 1,000:
- 1.000m in 3:51
- 2.000m in 7:41 (3:50)
- 3.000m in 11:32 (3:51)
- 4.000m in 15:23 (3:51)
- last 1.000m in 3:51.95
Second place to Hayato Yanagihara (JPN) in 19:51.08
Third place in Fumiya Shimada (JPN) in 21:20.08
5.000m track walk women
Only one athlete at the start.
Victory for Mito Itoyama (JPN) in 27:48.48