Athletics: Japan's Yanagita Hiroki wins Asian Championships men's 100m
The top qualifier from the semi-finals Yanagita, who was part of Japan's 2022 world under-20 champion relay team, takes the Asian continental title for the first time.
Athletics
Japan's Yanagita Hiroki claimed Asia's top sprinting crown on Friday (14 July), triumphing in the men's 100m final at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.
Yanagita, who was an unused relay reserve for Japan at Tokyo 2020 and part of the country's gold-medal winning world under-20 relay team in 2022, had qualified for the final in Bangkok with the fastest semi-final time.
The 19-year-old was able to celebrate his 20th birthday – which falls on 25 July – early, as he forged ahead about halfway down the straight before pulling away to win comfortably in a new personal best of 10.02 seconds.
Saudi Arabia's Abdullah A. Mohammed was second and Iran's Hassan Taftian third, while Rio 2016 Olympian Femi Ogunode of Qatar – who started the race strongly – faded to finish fourth.
In the women's 100m final, Singapore's Shanti Pereira became her country's first Asian athletics champion as she took home sprint glory in a time of 11.20 seconds. Singapore, which had won 13 medals in Championships history before Shanti's victory, last put an athlete on the podium in 2007.