Naoki Tsukahara

Naoki Tsukahara (塚原 直貴, born 10 May 1985) is a Japanese track and field sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres.[2]

Naoki Tsukahara

Tsukahara at the 2010 Japan Championship
Personal information
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1985-05-10) 10 May 1985 Okaya, Nagano
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
University team	Tokai University
Club	Fujitsu Track & Field Team
Retired	2016[1]
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 Olympics 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay Asian Games 2006 Doha 100 m 2006 Doha 4×100 m relay Asian Championships 2009 Guangzhou 4×100 m relay 2009 Guangzhou 100 m World Junior Championships 2004 Grosseto 4×100 m relay

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.[2]

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after the Jamaican and Trinidad teams, winning the bronze medal.[2] However, in January 2017, Jamaica's gold medal was revoked after one of their athletes was found to have been doping, meaning that the Japanese team received silver. 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.[3]

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.[4]