Japan’s Kiryu to challenge 10-second barrier

Teen running sensation Yoshihide Kiryu will make a bid to become the first Japanese athlete to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds on Sunday, with a packed stadium expected in Tokyo.

The 17-year-old high-school student equalled the world record for juniors on Monday after clocking 10.01 seconds at a meet in Hiroshima, making him one of only three men under-20 to have run that fast.

Kiryu’s next chance to break the 10-second barrier will come on Sunday at the Golden Grand Prix, the third leg of the 15-round IAAF World Challenge series.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday he said he was focusing on improving his performance in the latter part of the race.

“In that race in Hiroshima, I aimed at the line and slowed down in the last 10 metres. I’m determined to aim further, thinking of the line as a passing point,” he said.

“I watched the video after the race at home and analysed what was good and what was wrong. I must improve the last part of my running,” Kiryu added.

Ticket sales for the meet have reportedly jumped three-fold since his record-equalling run.

Kiryu will take on seven others at Tokyo’s National Stadium on Sunday, all of them senior athletes and three of whom have run under 10 seconds -- Americans Mike Rodgers (9.85) and Mookie Salaam (9.97), and Derrick Atkins (9.91) of Bahamas. “Even if he can’t run under 10 seconds, it’s almost certain that he will make it this season,” said retired Asian record holder Koji Ito, speaking to sports daily Nikkan Sports.

Ito marked 10.00 seconds flat at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. Kiryu’s junior world record performance on Monday put him alongside former juniors Trinidad and Tobago’s Darrel Brown, who logged 10.01 in 2003, and American Jeffery Demps, who clocked the same time at the 2008 US Olympic trials. Both were 18 at the time.

AFP