The first World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in 34 years, and the first in Japan since 2007, started with a bang for the host nation.
There were numerous Japanese fans lining the streets outside National Stadium on the opening day of competition, and they saw Hayato Katsuki claim bronze in the very first event, the men’s 35-kilometer race walk. The result likely left Japanese fans dreaming of more success to come with the nation’s biggest stars set to take the stage in the ensuing days.
Japan, however, managed just one more medal — a bronze by Nanako Fujii in the women’s 20K race walk on the penultimate day — over the remainder of a world championships that featured exciting moments but little success in the medal standings.
Kazuhiko Yamazaki, Japan’s team leader and chairman of the high-performance committee, however, said the nation’s overall results — the two medals and the nine top 8 finishes (teams are awarded points on the placing table from eight for a gold medal to one for an eighth-place finish in a final) by individual athletes — was a positive sign for the future. Japan’s athletes also set four national records.
“I think we have been able to shed the image of Japanese athletes being weak and unable to deliver under pressure,” Yamazaki said.
Japan’s biggest win was in the stands, however, which were packed with fans four years after the Tokyo Olympics were staged in empty venues because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japanese fans cheered loudly every time a local athlete competed and roared when they advanced through the rounds in their respective events.
“I feel really grateful, sprinter Yuki Koike said after running in the 4x100 on Sunday night. ”I had no idea there were so many track and field fans. There were so many Japanese fans, and that was a huge surprise.”
The only medalists the fans were able to celebrate, however, came from the race walk.
“The world championships in my home country is very special for me,” Katsuki said after his race. “I take it as a part of my preparation for the Los Angeles Olympics.”
Fujii set a national record of 1 hour, 26 minutes, 18 seconds to claim her medal.
“I have been waiting for this moment for a while, and it finally happened,” she said. “Winning the bronze medal in my country feels very special. I am honored to do it at home. I have been working hard to set this national record.”
Japan finished with the same number of medals as it did during the previous world championships in Budapest in 2023 — although one of those was Haruka Kitaguchi’s gold in the women’s javelin throw.
Japan was 40th in the medal standings in Tokyo and finished tied for 16th in the placings table.
Kitaguchi — who earned bronze at the 2022 world championships and gold at the worlds in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024 — was viewed as the nation’s best chance at gold in Tokyo. But Kitaguchi, who has been hindered by an elbow injury this season, failed to get out of the qualifying round.
”It’s really disappointing," Yamazaki said. “She was aiming for her fourth consecutive medal. The result is the result, but I feel like she made an impact on us and on the world championships in Tokyo. If she had not been here, we would not have drawn the crowds that we did. I really want to express my gratitude to her.”
There were also high hopes for 110-meter hurdler Rachid Muratake, who set the national record in August. Muratake drew attention for his anime-inspired poses before his races and had the fans behind him as he reached the final round. The 23-year-old, however, finished fifth before breaking down in tears during a TV interview immediately after the race.
Ryuji Miura was seen as a strong contender in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, and he was in the hunt as the race entered the final straight before fading to an eighth-place finish. Replays, however, appeared to show that another runner may have touched Miura and knocked him off balance late in the race. Japan filed a protest over the contact, but it was denied.
Yuki Joseph Nakajima put a charge into the local fanbase when he set a national record in the men’s 400-meter heats. The 23-year-old then finished second in his semifinal race to become the first Japanese man to reach the final in 34 years.
“I am proud of myself for making it,” he said after the semifinals. “It's amazing to hear all the fans getting louder and louder.
Nakajima finished sixth in the final race.
The other individual athletes to finish inside the top 8 were Ririka Hironaka, who was sixth in the women’s 10,000 meters; Kana Kobayashi, seventh in the marathon; Kento Yoshikawa, seventh in the men’s 20K walk; and Ryoichi Akamatsu, eighth in the men’s high jump.
Japan is now looking ahead to the Asian Games in Nagoya in 2026, the next world championships in Beijing in 2027 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We created a good model in Paris last year, and we want to improve on that,” Yamazaki said. “Our conditioning for the world championships is a little different than for the Olympics, so we want to examine it further. Los Angeles is a little farther off, but we are already thinking about what to do for that.”
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