Hanami Sekine (関根 花観 (Sekine Hanami); born 26 February 1996) is a Japanese female long-distance runner who competes in track events. She competed for Japan at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 February 1996 Tokyo, Japan[1] |
| Height | 1.56 m (5 ft 1 in)[2] |
| Weight | 43 kg (95 lb)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Japan |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best | 10,000 m: 31:22.92 min |
Born in Tokyo,[1] Sekine showed her promise for distance running by winning a leg at the Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden as a junior high school athlete.[3] Her first international medal came over 3000 metres at the 2014 Asian Junior Athletics Championships, where she was silver medallist behind Kyrgyz athlete Darya Maslova.[4][5] She continued to perform well in national ekiden competitions, winning her stage at the Inter-Prefectural race in 2014 and 2016, and coming runner-up at the All-Japan Women's Corporate Ekiden Championships in 2015.[6]
Sekine showed much improvement on the track in the 2016 season and at the 2016 Japan Championships in Athletics she set a personal best of 31:22.92 minutes to take second behind Ayuko Suzuki in the 10,000 metres, then placed third in the 5000 metres with another best of 15:24.74 minutes.[6] She was chosen to represent Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics over the longer distance.[7] At the competition she was near the top of the field in the opening stages, but fell away as the leading pack took on a world record pace. She finished 20th, two places behind national rival Yuka Takashima.[8]
Personal bests edit
- 3000 metres – 9:06.97 min (2013)
- 5000 metres – 15:24.74 min (2016)
- 10,000 metres – 31:22.92 min (2016)
International competitions edit
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Asian Junior Championships | Taipei, Taiwan | 2nd | 3000 m | 9:17.55 |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 20th | 10,000 m | 31:44.44 |
References edit
- ^ a b "関根 花観 Hanami Sekine". JAAF. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Hanami Sekine". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ Nakamura, Ken (17 January 2011). "Kyoto takes women's Inter-Prefectural Ekiden title in Kyoto". IAAF. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ "Hanami Sekine". All-Athletics. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ "16th Asian Junior Athletics Championships Women Results". Taipei2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Hanami Sekine". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 12 August 2016..
- ^ "Japan names athletics team for Rio 2016 Olympics". IAAF. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ "Women's 10,000m Final" (PDF). Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 12 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
External links edit
- Hanami Sekine at World Athletics
- Hanami Sekine at JAAF (in Japanese)
- Hanami Sekine at Olympics.com
- Hanami Sekine at Olympic.org (archived)
- Hanami Sekine at Olympedia
