Naoki Tsukahara

Naoki Tsukahara

Personal information
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1985-05-10) 10 May 1985 Okaya, Nagano
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100m: 10.09 s (Hiroshima 2009) 200m: 20.35 s (Yokohama 2006)
Medal record Men’s Athletics Representing Japan Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 4×100 metre relay World Junior Championships 2004 Grosseto 4×100 metre relay

Naoki Tsukahara (塚原 直貴, born 10 May 1985) is a Japanese sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres.

He was seventh in 100 m at the 58th National Sports Festival of Japan in 2003. After coming sixth over 200 m at the 2004 Japan Student Athletics Championships, he returned two years later to place runner-up in both short sprints. The 2006 Japan Championships in Athletics saw him with the 100 m title and take third in the 200 m.

Tsukahara represented Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where he competed at the 100 metre sprint and placed second in his first heat after Churandy Martina in a time of 10.39 seconds. He qualified for the second round in which he improved his time to 10.23 seconds, finishing third behind Martina and Michael Frater. In the 100 m semi-finals Tsukahara achieved a time of 10.16 seconds, his best of the season, but finished in seventh place, failing to qualify for the final.

Together with Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira and Nobuharu Asahara, Tsukahara also competed in the 4x100 metres relay final at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In their qualification heat, the team placed second behind Trinidad and Tobago, ahead of the teams from the Netherlands and Brazil. Their time of 38.52 s 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, placing third after the Jamaican and Trinidad teams, winning the bronze medal. The achievement was a historic one in terms of Japanese olympians; it is the first track medal won by Japanese athletes in 80 years, as well as being the first medal won by male Japanese athletes.

Tsukahara had a strong start to the 2009 season, improving his 200 m best in early May to 20.61 s. He also set a new 100 m personal best at the 2009 Osaka Grand Prix. He easily won with a time of 10.13 seconds but still felt that he was capable of running faster.

National titles

• Japan Championships in Athletics
  • 100 metres: 2006

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Japan
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	12th (sf)	100m	10.55 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	39.43
2006	World Cup	Athens, Greece	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	38.51
	Asian Games	Doha, Qatar	2nd	100 m	10.34
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	39.21
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	38.15

Personal bests

Event	Best	Location	Date
100 metres	10.09 s	Hiroshima, Japan	27 June 2009
200 metres	20.35 s	Yokohama, Japan	21 May 2006

External links

• Naoki Tsukahara profile at IAAF