Japan advanced to the final of the men's 4 x 100-meter relay on Thursday morning at National Stadium in Tokyo.
The host nation will look to defend or better the silver it won at the 2016 Rio Games in Friday's final at the Tokyo Olympics.
The quartet of Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryu and Yuki Koike finished third in the first heat with a time of 38.16 seconds, a season best for Japan.
Since making the final of the marquee relay event at the 2000 Sydney Games, Japan has advanced to the medal race at every Olympics.
The top three finishers in each heat and the two other fastest teams make the final. Two-time defending Olympic champion Jamaica (37.82) and 2019 World Championships silver medalist Great Britain (38.02) finished ahead of Japan in the first heat. The other five qualifiers came from the second heat, which China (37.916) won, followed by Canada (37.918), Italy (37.95), Germany (38.06) and Ghana (38.08). The United States, one of the favorites for the gold, failed to qualify after finishing sixth despite a season best 38.10. Italy and Ghana set national records for the event.
Japan will run from lane 9, the outside track, with what the team hopes is its best lineup for an Olympics. Three
of its members have run under 10 seconds in the 100 meters.
For Japan, making the final was the first hurdle to bringing some glory back to the men's team at this Olympics, as individual short distance runners were all eliminated in the heats of their respective events.
In the heat, Japan decided not to use the slumping Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, going with lead runner Tada, followed by Yamagata and Kiryu, and anchored by Koike. This is the first time Japan has used this combination in an international competition.
Japan's third place finish seems to show its vaunted underhand baton passing is in good form.
The key person on the team is the third runner, Kiryu. When Japan won the silver medal in Rio and bronze at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, Kiryu lived up to expectations with his world-class ability in this leg of the relay.
After he couldn't secure a spot on the national team for the 100 meters, he supported the team from a mental standpoint, focusing on the relay.
"My job is to show my best performance," Kiryu said.
Looking at other teams' individual members, Japan may not look like it has the best squad, but there has never been an Olympics in which Japan has had an absolute advantage. At Tokyo 2020, the relay team will run for the dream of winning the gold medal for the pride of Japan.
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