is a Japanese long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. He represented Japan in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, finishing in the top ten on all four occasions. His personal best for the distance is 2:08:35 hours.

Career

Born in Kikugawa in Japan's

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...

(now part of

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsush ...

), he attended Yamaguchi Prefectural City West High School. He began to feature in high level races while attending

Takushoku University Takushoku University (拓殖大学; ''Takushoku Daigaku'', abbreviated as 拓大 ''Takudai'') is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Duke Taro Katsura (1848–1913).

and ran at the 2005

Hakone Ekiden , officially called the , is one of the most prominent university ''ekiden'' (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on January 2 and 3. The race is telecast on Nippon Television. This two-day race from Ōtemachi ...

.中本健太郎 Kentaro Nakamoto

Japan Association of Athletics Federations The is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Japan. Presidents * Ryōzō Hiranuma (1929–1958) *Hiroshi Kasuga (1958–1964) * Ichirō Kōno (1965) * Kenzō Kōno (1965–1975) * Hanji Aoki (1975–1999) *Yōhei Kōno (1999� ...

. Retrieved on 2013-02-27. After graduation he joined the

Yaskawa Electric Corporation The is a Japanese manufacturer of servos, motion controllers, AC motor drives, switches and industrial robots. Their Motoman robots are heavy duty industrial robots used in welding, packaging, assembly, coating, cutting, material handling and ...

and the athletic director there encouraged him to move towards being a marathon specialist. Nakamoto made his debut over that distance in 2008 and came third at the Nobeoka Marathon with a time of 2:13:54 hours and also took second place at that year's

Hokkaido Marathon The Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. The staging area as well as both the start and finish lines are in Odori Park starting between Nishi 3-chome and Nishi 4-chome and the fi ...

.Kentaro Nakamoto
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-27. Nakamoto set a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

best of 1:02:29 hours at the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon in 2009, He knocked one second off his marathon best with a top ten finish at the

Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. H ...

in March. He went under that time twice in his two marathon outings in 2010, running 2:11:42 at the Beppu-Ōita Marathon and 2:12:38 at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded Tata Consultancy Services, TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Eve ...

.Kentaro Nakamoto
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-02-27. He broke the 2:10 barrier at the 2011

Lake Biwa Marathon The was a marathon race held in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. It was one of the prominent marathons in Japan. It was a male only competition and had IAAF Gold Label status.Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07)Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown IAAF. Retrieved on 2010- ...

, having his best finish yet with a run of 2:09:31 for fourth. As one of the leading Japanese men that season, he was selected for 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. In his first international appearance for Japan he performed well and took tenth place in the World Championship Marathon. He was Asia's second fastest performer, after his team mate Hiroyuki Horibata, with whom he secured the team silver medals in the 2011 World Marathon Cup. That year he also ran track bests of 14:04.31 minutes for the 5000 metres and 29:04.24 minutes for the

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 ra ...

. A return to the Lake Biwa race in 2012 saw him finish in the same position, but in a personal best of 2:08:53 hours (the second Japanese behind Ryo Yamamoto). This performance earned Nakamoto another international selection and competing for Japan at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

he ranked as Asia's best performer in the Men's Olympic marathon, taking sixth place with a run of 2:11:16 hours. Nakamoto began 2013 with a personal best of 2:08:35 hours at the Beppu-Ōita Marathon, taking the runner-up spot behind

Yuki Kawauchi is a Japanese marathon runner. He came to prominence after running the 2011 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37, finishing as the first Japanese citizen and third overall. He was known as the "citizen runner" given that he used to work full-time for the go ...

, who broke the course record to win.Nakamura, Ken (2013-02-03)
Kawauchi clocks course record in Beppu-Oita Marathon
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-27.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamoto, Kentaro Living people 1982 births Japanese male long-distance runners Japanese male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Shimonoseki 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people