Japanese long-distance runner
Hanami Sekine
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Born | (1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 28) Tokyo, Japan[1] |
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Height | 1.56 m (5 ft 1 in)[2] |
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Weight | 43 kg (95 lb)[2] |
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Country | Japan |
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Personal best | 10,000 m: 31:22.92 min |
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Hanami Sekine (関根 花観 (Sekine Hanami); born 26 February 1996) is a Japanese female long-distance runner who competes in track events. She competed for Japan at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Born in Tokyo,[1] Sekine showed her promise for distance running by winning a leg at the Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden as a junior high school athlete.[3] Her first international medal came over 3000 metres at the 2014 Asian Junior Athletics Championships, where she was silver medallist behind Kyrgyz athlete Darya Maslova.[4][5] She continued to perform well in national ekiden competitions, winning her stage at the Inter-Prefectural race in 2014 and 2016, and coming runner-up at the All-Japan Women's Corporate Ekiden Championships in 2015.[6]
Sekine showed much improvement on the track in the 2016 season and at the 2016 Japan Championships in Athletics she set a personal best of 31:22.92 minutes to take second behind Ayuko Suzuki in the 10,000 metres, then placed third in the 5000 metres with another best of 15:24.74 minutes.[6] She was chosen to represent Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics over the longer distance.[7] At the competition she was near the top of the field in the opening stages, but fell away as the leading pack took on a world record pace. She finished 20th, two places behind national rival Yuka Takashima.[8]
Personal bests
International competitions
References
External links