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Naoki Tsukahara

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Naoki Tsukahara
Tsukahara at the 2010 Japan Championship
Personal information
Nationality Japan
Born (1985-05-10) 10 May 1985 (age 39)
Okaya, Nagano
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)100 metres, 200 metres
University teamTokai University
ClubFujitsu Track & Field Team
Retired2016[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100m: 10.09 s (Hiroshima 2009)
200m: 20.35 s (Yokohama 2006)
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  Japan
Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha 100 m
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha 4×100 m relay
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Guangzhou 4×100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2009 Guangzhou 100 m
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Grosseto 4×100 m relay

Naoki Tsukahara (塚原 直貴, born 10 May 1985) is a Japanese sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres.[2]

He was seventh in 100 m at the 58th National Sports Festival of Japan in 2003. After coming sixth over 200 m at the 2004 Japan Student Athletics Championships, he returned two years later to place runner-up in both short sprints. The 2006 Japan Championships in Athletics saw him with the 100 m title and take third in the 200 m.

Tsukahara represented Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where he competed at the 100 metre sprint and placed second in his first heat after Churandy Martina in a time of 10.39 seconds. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.23 seconds, finishing third behind Martina and Michael Frater. In the 100 m semi-finals Tsukahara achieved a time of 10.16 seconds, his best of the season, but finished in seventh place, failing to qualify for the final.[2]

Together with Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira and Nobuharu Asahara, Tsukahara also competed in the 4x100 metres relay final at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In their qualification heat, the team placed second behind Trinidad and Tobago, ahead of the teams from the Netherlands and Brazil. Their time of 38.52 s was the third fastest out of sixteen participating nations in the first round and they qualified for the final. There they sprinted to a time of 38.15 seconds, placing third after the Jamaican and Trinidad teams, winning the bronze medal.[2] However, in January 2017, Jamaica's gold medal was revoked after one of their athletes was found to have been doping, meaning that the Japanese team received silver. The achievement was a historic one in terms of Japanese olympians; it is the first track medal won by Japanese athletes in 80 years, as well as being the first medal won by male Japanese athletes.[3]

Tsukahara had a strong start to the 2009 season, improving his 200 m best in early May to 20.61 s. He also set a new 100 m personal best at the 2009 Osaka Grand Prix. He easily won with a time of 10.13 seconds but still felt that he was capable of running faster.[4]

National titles

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Japan
2004 World Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 12th (sf) 100m 10.55 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
3rd 4 × 100 m relay 39.43 (relay leg: 4th)
2006 World Cup Athens, Greece 3rd 4 × 100 m relay 38.51 (relay leg: 1st)[5]
Asian Games Doha, Qatar 2nd 100 m 10.34 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 39.21 (relay leg: 1st)
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 20th (qf) 100 m 10.31 (wind: -0.3 m/s)
5th 4 × 100 m relay 38.03 (relay leg: 1st) AR
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 13th (sf) 100 m 10.16 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.15 (relay leg: 1st)
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 15th (sf) 100 m 10.25 (wind: -0.2 m/s)
4th 4 × 100 m relay 38.30 (relay leg: 2nd)
Asian Championships Guangzhou, China 2nd 100 m 10.32 (wind: -0.1 m/s)
1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.01 (relay leg: 2nd)
2010 Continental Cup Split, Croatia 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 39.28 (relay leg: 2ndg)[6]
2013 Asian Championships Pune, India 7th 100 m 10.54 (wind: -0.3 m/s)

Personal bests

Event Best Location Date
100 metres 10.09 s Hiroshima, Japan 27 June 2009
200 metres 20.35 s Yokohama, Japan 21 May 2006

Records

  • 4×100 m relay
    • Former Asian record holder - 38.03 s (relay leg: 1st) (Osaka, 1 September 2007)[a]
a with Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, and Nobuharu Asahara

References

  1. ^ 塚原直貴が今季で引退　北京五輪男子４００メートルリレーで「銅」. Sankei Shimbun (2016-11-10). Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  2. ^ a b c "Athlete biography: Naoki Tsukahara". Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-27., beijing2008.cn, ret: August 26, 2008.
  3. ^ "Japan grabs historic bronze in men's relay". The Japan Times Online. 2008-08-24. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  4. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2009-05-09). ‘07 World champs Wariner, Clement and Thomas win again in Osaka – IAAF World Athletics Tour. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  5. ^ Representing Asia
  6. ^ Representing Asia-Pacific
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