National News

Japan captures two medals in Berlin

Yukifumi Murakami captured a surprise bronze medal in the men's javelin on the final day of the 12th International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Berlin on Aug. 23.

Murakami nailed a second throw of 82.97 meters to become the first Japanese to win a medal in the event at the worlds. Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen (89.59) won the gold while the silver went to Guillermo Martinez of Cuba (86.41).

Murakami's bronze was Japan's second medal of the championships after Yoshimi Ozaki took silver in the women's marathon earlier in the day with a time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 25 seconds, finishing 10 seconds behind China's Bai Xue.

"It still hasn't really sunk in that I'm a medalist," Ozaki told reporters. "I've been getting loads of texts from my friends and the response has been massive. It's sort of nice and also scary." (Kyodo News)

Shukan ST: September 4, 2009

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