Fukube lowers own hurdles record

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:08 JST, September 26, 2022

GIFU — Mako Fukube rewrote her own Japan record in the women’s 100-meter hurdles when she clocked 12.73 seconds in racing to victory Sunday at the All-Japan Corporate Championships in Gifu.

Fukube, helped by a legal 1.1 mps tailwind and despite clipping a number of hurdles, surpassed the previous record of 12.82 she set in her semifinal heat at the world championships in July in Eugene, Ore.

Fukube’s time also surpassed the qualifying standard of 12.78 for next year’s world championships in Budapest, but she has higher goals.

“A time of 12.73 doesn’t get me out of the semifinals [at the world championships],” she said. “I think I can further improve my time and get under 12.7.”

Fukube’s semifinal heat in Eugene was remarkable in that all of the eight hurdlers set personal or seasonal bests, and Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan won in a world record of 12.12.