Japan men reign supreme in 100-meter relay

JAKARTA - Japan’s men’s 4×100-meter sprint foursome showed on Thursday it has not lost a step since its runner-up finish in Rio, winning the Asian Games title with ease.

Running a 38.16-second time, the team of 100-meter bronze medalist Ryota Yamagata, Shuhei Tada, Yoshihide Kiryu and Asuka Cambridge outsprinted runner-up Indonesia and bronze winner China for Japan’s first Asian Games gold in the event in 20 years.

Despite being 0.56 seconds off the time that saw the team, with Shota Iizuka in place of Tada, earn silver behind Jamaican legend Usain Bolt and friends in Rio, it was more than enough for gold in Jakarta.

Indonesia crossed the line 0.61 seconds behind Japan, with China 0.73 off the pace.

In the preceding women’s 4×100, Bahrain captured gold in a games record 42.73, outlasting silver medalist China on the final straight. Kazakhstan won bronze, while Japan finished fifth behind Thailand.

On Thursday morning, Hayato Katsuki triumphed in the men’s 50-km race walk.

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