Japan's Kayoko Fukushi rewrote her own national record Friday when she finished 12th in the women's 5,000 meters at the Golden Gala, the second leg of the six-meet Golden League 2005 series. Fukushi, who placed ninth in the 3,000 in the series opener in Paris on July 1, clocked 14 minutes, 53.22 seconds to break the previous mark of 14:55.19 she set at the Asian Games in South Korea in October 2002. Dibaba Tirunesh led an Ethiopian podium sweep and won in 14:32.57.
"I had fun. I got off to a rocket start and found myself among the top pack. I was able to relax before the race and that's what made the difference," said Fukushi.
Elsewhere, national record holder Daichi Sawano placed second in the men's pole vault with a first-attempt jump of 5.71 meters, and Dai Tamesui took third in the men's 400-meter hurdles by coming home in a season-best 48.66 seconds.