Yasunori Uchitomi ( ja, 内冨恭則; born 29 October 1972), is a Japanese former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who specialised in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. His personal best for the event is 8:26.48 minutes, set in 1997. He was one of Japan's top steeplechasers during his career, taking three titles at the Japan Championships in Athletics and six at 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 ...

. His greatest achievement was a gold medal at the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

, having won bronze four years earlier. He was twice a medallist at the

Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That e ...

(silver in 1998, bronze in 2003). He had much success at the East Asian Games, winning back-to-back titles in 1997 to 2001 with games record times before finally taking silver in 2005 (his last international performance). Uchitomi also represented Japan at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

in 1999 and was a corporate team runner for

Chugoku Electric Power Company , trading as (Latin for "energy") is an electric utility with its exclusive operational area of Chūgoku region of Japan. It is the sixth largest by electricity sales among Japan's ten regional power utilities. It operates the Shimane Nuclear Po ...

, winning several Japan corporate titles.

Career

Uchitomi established himself at national level in 1993 when he won the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

title at the

. He had his first successes in the

during the 1994 track season. He set a personal best of 8:33.04 minutes at the Japan Championships in Athletics,Yasunori Uchitomi
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. then went on to take his first major medal at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...

, held in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

.Asian Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. He won the national title in the steeplechase for the first time in 1995. He retained that title the following year with a personal best run of 8:30.16 minutes and also took the Japanese Games title in the event that year. Uchitomi reached his athletic peak in 1997 and set lifetime bests of 3:43.13 minutes for the 1500 m and 8:26.48 minutes for the steeplechase (the latter mark coming as part of another National Games win).Yasunori Uchitomi
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. A steeplechase gold medal at the

1997 East Asian Games The 2nd East Asian Games were held in Busan, South Korea from May 10 to May 19, 1997. Originally, the second edition of the East Asian Games was to be held in Pyongyang, North Korea, in September 1995. However, North Korea dropped the games due ...

in a games record marked his first international title in the sport.East Asian Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. His run of success in the steeplechase continued into 1998. First he took the silver medal at the

1998 Asian Athletics Championships The 12th Asian Championships in Athletics were held in Fukuoka, Japan in July 1998. Medal summary Men Women Medal table See also *1998 in athletics (track and field) External linksGBR Athletics {{asian athletics champs Asian Athlet ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, finishing behind Saudi Arabia's

Saad Al-Asmari Saad Shaddad Al-Asmari ( ar, سعد شداد الأسمري) (born 24 September 1968) is a Saudi Arabian runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has won five medals from the Asian Championships, three from the Arab Athletics Ch ...

.Asian Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. At the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold meda ...

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

he ran the second fastest time of his career at 8:28.04 minutes. His form maintained until December, he took the highest accolade of his career at the

with a gold medal-winning performance. He made his international debut on grass at the

1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 27 and 28 March 1999. The races were held at the Barnett Demesne/ Queen's University Playing Fields in Belfast, United Kingdom. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Tim ...

, but was outside of the top 100 of the men's short race.Official Results - CROSS SHORT Men - Saturday, March 27, 1999
IAAF (1999-03-27). Retrieved on 2014-10-05. He was runner-up at the Japanese Championships that year, but returned to the fore in 2000 with wins at both the national championships and games. The emergence of

Yoshitaka Iwamizu is a Japanese long-distance runner. He competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He finished fifth at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing, won a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Korea and finished eleventh at the 2003 Worl ...

at the 2001 Japanese Championships marked a generational change. Although Uchitomi ran a time of 8:29.63 minutes (third best in his career), he was beaten by Iwamizu, who would go on to win five consecutive titles. Uchitomi defended his title at the

2001 East Asian Games The 3rd East Asian Games were held in Osaka, Japan from May 19, 2001, to May 27, 2001. Sports The 2001 East Asian Games featured events in 15 sports, which was a new high for the competition. *Aquatic sports, Aquatics () ** Swimming (sport), S ...

and improved his own games record to 8:33.98 minutes, beating compatriot Wataru Izumi into second place as he had in 1997. He also took the steeplechase title for the

at the All-Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships. Running for his corporate team, helped Chugoku Electric to second place at the

New Year Ekiden The New Year Ekiden, (officially the ), is an annual men's ekiden (road running relay) over 100 kilometres which takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January. The race is a national championship contested between Japan's corporate (busi ...

in January 2002. He won the corporate steeplechase title for a second year running, but was again runner-up at the national championships. He aimed to defend his title at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

but finished outside the medals in fifth place – his time of 8:41.02 minutes being his fastest that year. He showed strong form at the 2002 Japanese Championships with a run of 8:30.52 minutes behind Iwamizu. He was back within the major medals at the

2003 Asian Athletics Championships The 15th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Manila, Philippines on September 20–23, 2003. Results Men Women Medal table Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Se ...

, where he took bronze in a tactic race as Japan's sole representative.Saif Saeed Shaheen suffers shock defeat at 1500m - Day Two of Asian Championships
IAAF (2003-09-21). Retrieved on 2014-10-05. He ended the year with victories at the corporate championships and the Japanese Games. His 2004 season did not feature any major competitions and he placed in the top three nationally. He had his last international outings the year after, coming fourth at the

2005 Asian Athletics Championships The 2005 Asian Athletics Championships were the 16th edition of the international athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held in Incheon, South Korea between 1–4 September 2005. Results Men * The original bronze medalist, An ...

and taking the silver medal 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 ...

, missing out on a third straight title due to his national rival Iwamizu. He won his sixth, and final, steeplechase title at the Japanese National Games that October. Reaching his mid-thirties, he had his last season in 2006 after finishing out of the top ten at the national championships.

International competitions

National titles

(6 titles): 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005Japanese National Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. * Japan Championships in Athletics (4 titles)Japanese Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-10-05. **1500 metres: 1993 **3000 m steeplechase: 1995, 1996, 2000

Personal bests

– 3:43.13 min (1997) *

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

– 7:56.53 min (1998) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

– 13:37.80 min (2001) *

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

– 28:55.00 min (2000) * Half marathon – 62:52 min (2003) *

– 8:26.48 min (1997)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uchitomi, Yasunori Living people 1972 births Japanese male middle-distance runners Japanese male long-distance runners Japanese male steeplechase runners Japanese male cross country runners Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Japan Championships in Athletics winners