JAKARTA -- Hayato Katsuki showed mental toughness, coming back to win the gold in the men's 50-kilometer race walk on Thursday at the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
Japan had a total of 162 medals, including 52 gold medals, through Wednesday's action, exceeding the 47 it earned at the previous Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.
Yuki Koike on Wednesday won gold on the track in the men's 200 meters, while Natsumi Tsunoda won gold in the women's 52-kilogram class in judo.
The men's under-21 soccer team also defeated United Arab Emirates 1-0 in the semifinals to reach Saturday's final.
Overcoming 5-minute penalty
Katsuki won Thursday's morning race walk in 4 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds. Although Katsuki and compatriot Satoshi Maruo were out in front, Katsuki received three warnings from race officials before the 34-kilometer mark and had to serve a 5-minute penalty.
Said Katsuki: "At the time, I felt like I could make up the 5-minute difference."
When the penalty was over, Katsuki was in fourth place. But he worked his way back to the front, taking over the lead for good at around the 41-kilometer mark. Maruo finished fourth.
With his win here, he is likely to earn a berth to next year's world championships, to be held in Doha. But he admitted he has work to do.
"Honestly, I do have mixed feelings," Katsuki said after the race. "What has become clear is that my walking form is still undeveloped. If I do the same thing at the world championships, there's no way I'll be able to catch up."
Photo finish in men's 200
The competition of the men's 200 meters on Wednesday was so close between Yuki Koike and Taiwan's Yang Chun-han, even officials needed several minutes to post the final result.
After the post-race delay, Koike's victory was announced with a time of 20.23, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Wang.
"I am slightly stunned that I really made it," Koike said about becoming an Asian champion.
Koike is also aiming for the world championships.
"If I can manage to move up two notches above where my level is now, I might be able to advance to the final [at worlds]," he said.
Seito Yamamoto won the men's pole vault to add to Japan's haul in athletics.
"I feel great," said Yamamoto, who cleared 5.60 meters on his first attempt. No other competitors were able to clear the same height, giving him the victory.
Still, Yamamoto continued jumping and cleared the bar at 5.70 meters to set an Asian Games record.
"I knew that if I want to produce good results at the Tokyo Olympic Games, I really needed to win at the Asian Games," Yamamoto said.
Tsunoda got over her nerves to win judo gold.
"I had been told that I could win [at the Asian Games] and that made me nervous. I feel relieved now that I actually was able to win," Tsunoda said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
