is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

from

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

. She represented her country in the 20 km race walk at the 2004, 2008 and 2012

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

. Her personal best time for the 20 km race walk is 1:28:49 hours. A three-time Asian Race Walk Champion, she is a former national record holder and the second fastest Japanese race walker after Masumi Fuchise. Kawasaki has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on four occasions, with her best finish being tenth in 2007.

Career

Born in

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi ...

, she grew up in

Kasama, Ibaraki is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 73,805 in 29,362 households and a population density of 307 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 32.2%. The total area of t ...

and began competing in racewalking as a teenager.Kodama, Ikumi (2010-05-06)
Focus on Athletes - Mayumi Kawasaki
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-22. Her first international success came at the 1999 Asian Junior Athletics Championships, where she came second behind China's Li Yurui in the 10,000 metres track walk. She made her senior breakthrough in 2003 with wins at the Japanese Corporate event and the

Japanese National Games The is the national premier sports event of Japan. It consists of three stages. The skating and ice hockey stage takes place in January, the skiing stage takes place in February, and the main Autumn tournament takes place in September and Octob ...

, before going on to set a national record time of 1:32:16 hours. She improved this to 1:31:19 hours at the 2004 Japanese Championships and was selected for the Olympic team, although injuries resulted in a slow finish in 40th place. Kawasaki defended her national title in 2005 and competed for Japan at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

, improved upon her previous global level performance by ranking 31st overall. She closed the year with an appearance at the

2005 East Asian Games The 4th East Asian Games was an international multi-sport event for countries in East Asia which was held in Macau from October 29 to November 6, 2005. Host city At the 11th EAGA Council Meeting held in Guam in March 1996, Macau, then a Portugues ...

, where she was beaten into fourth place by compatriot

Sachiko Konishi is a female Japanese race walker. Konishi represented Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power ...

. Injuries affected her the following year, forcing a withdrawal from the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, although she managed to place sixth at that year's

Asian Race Walking Championships The Asian Race Walking Championships is an annual race walking competition for athletes representing countries from Asia, organized by the Asian Athletics Association (AAA). It was established in 2006 and has featured races for senior men (20&nbs ...

and 52nd at the

IAAF World Race Walking Cup The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. Women first entered the 1979 edition. ...

. In 2007 her national record was beaten by Masumi Fuchise, but Kawasaki rebounded with a personal best and record time of 1:28:56 hours to win the 2007 Asian Race Walking Championships. Later that season she came tenth at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

held in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

– this was the best ever finish by a Japanese woman in the event. She took part in her second race under one and a half hours in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...

in 2008, winning the national title race in 1:29:28 hours.Kawasaki Mayumi
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-22. Kawasaki won the Asian title for a second year running and was selected for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, where she was the third best Asian finisher with her 13th-place finish in 1:29:43 hours. She joined Fujitsu's track and field club in November 2008. The 2009 Japanese Race Walking Championships saw Kawasaki and national rival Fuchise deliver the fastest times for Japanese walkers: Kawasaki improved her best to 1:28:49 hours, but Fuchise won the title 46 seconds ahead of her. Kawasaki adopted an aggressive walking tactic at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, but the method did not pay off as she was disqualified for lifting – the first such disqualification in her professional career. She won her third consecutive Asian title at the end of 2009 and went on to post a high finish of seventh place at the 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup. She was fourth in the race walk at the 2010 Asian Games and made her fourth straight appearance at the World Championships with her 22nd-place finish at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

in Daegu. At the 2012 Japanese championships in Nomi City she came second behind Masumi Fuchise.Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2012-03-12)
China clinch Asian Race Walking titles in Nomi
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-22.

Retirement

Kawasaki retired soon after returning to Japan from the 2012 London Olympics. She left Fujitsu in January 2013. She got married and, with her husband, runs Kitahachi Onsen Inn in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Achievements

References

External links

*
Profile
at JAAF {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawasaki, Mayumi 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Ibaraki Prefecture Japanese female racewalkers Olympic female racewalkers Olympic athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games competitors for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan Japan Championships in Athletics winners Asian Athletics Championships winners Fujitsu people