- Naoki Tsukahara
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Naoki Tsukahara Personal information Nationality 
JapanBorn 10 May 1985
Okaya, NaganoHeight 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) Weight 75 kg (170 lb) Sport Sport Running Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100m: 10.09 s (Hiroshima 2009)
200m: 20.35 s (Yokohama 2006)Medal recordMen’s Athletics Competitor for JapanOlympic Games Bronze 2008 Beijing 4×100 metre relay World Junior Championships Bronze 2004 Grosseto 4×100 metre relay Naoki Tsukahara (塚原 直貴, born 10 May 1985) is a Japanese sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres.[1]
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.[1]
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3]
Achievements
Competition record
Year Competition Venue Position Notes 2003 58th National Sports Festival of Japan Shizuoka, Japan 7th 100 m 2004 Japan Student Athletics Championships Unknown, Japan 6th 200 m World Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 3rd 4x100 m relay 2006 Kanto Students Athletics Championships Kantō, Japan 2nd 100 m 2nd 200 m Japan Association of Athletics Championships Tokyo, Japan 1st 100 m 3rd 200 m World Cup Athens, Greece 3rd 4x100 m relay Asian Games Doha, Qatar 2nd 100 m 2nd 4x100 m relay 2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 3rd 4x100 m relay 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 References
- ^ a b c Athlete biography: Naoki Tsukahara, beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 26, 2008
- ^ Historic bronze for Japan
- ^ Nakamura, Ken (2009-05-09). ‘07 World champs Wariner, Clement and Thomas win again in Osaka – IAAF World Athletics Tour. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-05-10.
External links
- IAAF profile for Naoki Tsukahara
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- Japanese sprinters
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Japan
- Olympic bronze medalists for Japan
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
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