Ko Ochiai
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| Born | 17 August 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Middle distance running | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal bests | 800 m: 1:43.45 (2026) NR 1500 m: 3:44.18 (2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ko Ochiai (born 17 August 2006) is a Japanese middle-distance runner. He was a bronze medalist over 800 metres at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships. That year, and in 2025, he won the senior Japanese Athletics Championships over 800 metres and is the national record holder.
Biography
From Takashima in Shiga Prefecture, during his childhood Ochiai participated in various sports, but in junior high school he focused on track and field. He went on to attend Shiga Gakuen High School. In his second year of high school, he won the 800 metres final at the 2023 Inter-High School Championships and also placed sixth in the 1500 metres final.
2024
He won the 2024 Asian U20 Athletics Championships over 800 metres in Dubai in April 2024. He won the senior Japanese Athletics Championships title in June 2024 with a time of 1:46.56.
Later that year, he went into the 800 metres at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships as not only the Japanese and Asian under-20 champion, but the Japanese national record holder, having broken the record first in June 2024, with a time of 1:45.82, which he then lowered to 1:44.80 in July of that year. He proceeded to win the bronze medal in August 2024 at the Championships in Lima, Peru, finishing behind Ethiopian General Ayansa and Peyton Craig of Australia, in third place in a time of 1:47.03.
2025
He finished fifth over 800 metres at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, running 1:48.01, having been the fastest qualifier from the semi-finals in 1:46.24.
He retained his the senior Japanese Athletics Championships 800 metres title in June 2025 in Tokyo, winning with a time of 1:45.93. He competed for Japan at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Bochum, Germany in the 800 metres.
He competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025 in the men's 800 metres.
2026
In February 2026, he won the silver medal in the 800 metres at the 2026 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China. In May, Ochiai ran a personal best 1:43.90 over 800 m at the Shizuoka International Meeting in Fukuroi. Competing at the Twolaps MDC Meet in Tokyo later that month, Ochiai ran a new personal best and Japanese national record of 1:43.45. He ran a 2:15.24 Japanese national record for the 1000 metres on 10 July at the 2026 Herculis event in Monaco. In September, he set a new Games record when winning the 800 metres gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. He ran 1:44.48 to take close to a second off the previous Games record of 1:45.45 set by Sajjad Moradi in 2010.
References
- ↑ "Ko Ochiai". World Athletics. 31 August 2025.
- ↑ Tanaka, Yukifumi (December 11, 2024). "Ochiai, who set a new Japanese record in the men's 800 m, looks ahead to the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships and Los Angeles 2028". Olympic.com. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships". World Athletics. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "Japanese Championships". World Athletics. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "WU20 Lima 24 preview: distance". World Athletics. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "Walaza storms to sprint double at World U20 Championships in Lima". World Athletics. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "26th Asian Athletics Championships". World Athletics. 31 May 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "Singapore's Thiruben Thana Rajan breaks 38-year-old national record at Asian Athletics C'ships". Straits Times. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "Japanese Championships". World Athletics. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "FISU World University Games". World Athletics. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 21 September 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ↑ "Japan names 80-strong host nation team for WCH Tokyo 25". World Athletics. 2 September 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
- ↑ "12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships". World Athletics. 9 Feb 2026. Retrieved 9 Feb 2026.
- ↑ "41st Shizuoka International Athletics Meet". World Athletics. 3 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "Teen Sensation Ko Ochiai Rewrites Japanese History with Stunning National Record in Tokyo". Mybestruns. 31 May 2026. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
- ↑ "Twolaps Middle Distance Circuit". World Athletics. 30 May 2026. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
- ↑ "Results - Monaco Diamond League 2026". Watch Athletics. 10 July 2026. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Japan's Ochiai sets Asian Games record to win men's 800". Kyodo News. Sep 29, 2026. Retrieved Sep 29, 2026.
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