Olympic hammer throw champion Koji Murofushi eased to a record 11th title despite a mediocre performance at the national track and field championships Saturday.
Murofushi threw 76.47 meters on his second try at National Stadium, well outside his national record of 84.86, in his first appearance of the year in an official competition.
He then fouled in three consecutive attempts in heavy rain. "I've been practicing constantly but I'm not in top form and it takes some time to produce good results," Murofushi said. "I'll slow myself down a little bit this year trying to cut down the number of meets that I'm in," he added.