Kensuke Takezawa

Kensuke Takezawa at the 2009 International Chiba Ekiden.

Kensuke Takezawa (竹澤 健介, Takezawa Kensuke, born October 11, 1986 in Himeji, Hyogo, Japan) is a Japanese professional long-distance runner. He attended Waseda University in Tokyo.^[1]

His international debut came at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, where he was 49th in the men's long race.^[2] In 2007 he was second over 10,000 metres at the Japanese Athletics Championships then equalled the Japanese collegiate record over 5000 m at the KBC Night of Athletics (running a time of 13:19.00 minutes).^[3] He finished twelfth in the 10,000 m at the 2007 World Championships. Takezawa was runner-up in the 5000 m at the 2008 Japanese nationals and was selected for the Japanese Olympic team: he ran in the first round of the 5000 m and finished twenty-eighth in the 10,000 m at the men's 10,000 metres.^[2]

At the 2009 East Asian Games he won the 10,000 m gold medal – his first win on the international stage. That year he was again the 5000 m runner-up at the Japanese Championships and placed fourth over the distance at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships. He won his first national title in 2010, taking the 10,000 m honours, and placed sixth in the 5000 m at the 2010 Asian Games.^[3] He was part of the Japanese team for the International Chiba Ekiden race in 2011 and helped the team to finish second overall.^[4]

He began 2012 with a run at the Inter-Prefectural Men's Ekiden, where he won the final stage to take the title for Hyōgo Prefecture.^[5]

Personal bests[]

• 3000 metres - 7:49.26 min (2009)
• 5000 metres - 13:19.00 min (2007)
• 10,000 metres - 27:45.59 min (2007)
• Half marathon - 1:02:26 hrs (2006)

References[]