is a Japanese sprinter who specialises in the

100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

.Athlete biography: Shinji Takahira
beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 29, 2008 Takahira competed in the 200 m at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and the 2005 World Championships but failed to progress beyond the heats. He took the silver medal at the 2005 Summer Universiade. He represented Japan in his home country at the 2007 Osaka World Championships and reached the quarter-finals of the 200 m event. Takahira represented

Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics Japan competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The delegation of athletes and officials were represented by the Japanese Olympic Committee. The list of qualified entries for Japan is shown. In some cases, the ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He competed at the 4x100 metres relay together with Naoki Tsukahara,

Shingo Suetsugu is a Japanese sprinter.Athl ...

and

Nobuharu Asahara is a former Japanese athlete who specialized in the 100 meters and long jump.Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, but in front of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Their time of 38.52 was the third fastest out of sixteen participating nations in the first round and they qualified for the final. There they sprinted to a time of 38.15 seconds, the third time after the

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n and Trinidad teams, winning the bronze medal. However, in January 2017, Jamaica's medal was revoked due to one of their athletes proven to have been doping; this meant that Japan now moved up to a silver medal. He also took part in the

individual. In his first round heat he placed fourth in a time of 20.58 seconds, outside of the direct qualifiers. His time was however among the best losing times, securing his second round spot. In the second round he came to a time of 20.63 seconds and was eliminated as he only placed seventh in the heat. Takahira made a good start to the 2009 season, finishing second and recording a new 200 m best of 20.31 s at the 2009 Osaka Grand Prix. He felt spurred on by running against American athlete Rodney Martin and stated that he hoped to make the semis or final of the forthcoming Berlin World Championships. He won the 200 m at the Japanese Championships, breaking his personal best with a run of 20.22 seconds. This was the third-fastest time ever run in Japan, and Takahira said "I was secretly hoping for Suetsugu’s (national) record".Fukushima breaks 200-meter mark
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The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' (2009-06-27). Retrieved on 2019-10-08.

Achievements

Competition record

Personal bests

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takahira, Shinji 1984 births Living people People from Asahikawa Sportspeople from Hokkaido Japanese male sprinters Olympic athletes of Japan Olympic silver medalists for Japan Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) 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 Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Universiade gold medalists for Japan Universiade silver medalists for Japan Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan Japan Championships in Athletics winners Fujitsu people