Last weekend at the Diamond League London, British home athlete Cole broke the men's one-mile world record that had stood for 26 years, drawing most of the attention.
But the London meet produced many other excellent performances. In the women's 3000m, Japanese middle- and long-distance star Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Automatic Loom) ran 8:32.29, cutting 1.23 seconds off her previous Japanese record of 8:33.52 set at the New York Millrose Games in February 2025.
Although she finished 13th, setting a national record on a Diamond League stage packed with the world's top athletes speaks for itself. With this time she also becomes the eighth-fastest woman in Asian history over 3000m, and the fastest currently active.
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Continuing to race, still breaking national records
The Diamond League London women's 3000m went fast from the start — roughly 2:48 at 1000m and about 5:41 at 2000m. Tanaka stayed with the pack the whole way and finished with a new Japanese record. The win went to Australia's Jessica Hull in 8:24.69.
Image source: social media
According to Japanese media ekiden_news, it wasn't easy for Tanaka to set this record.
Earlier at the Hokuren Chitose meet, Tanaka ran 1500m in 4:08.53 and 5000m in 15:00.61 in the same day, then immediately flew to Europe. She used the long flight following a heavy load as a recovery period, ran a season-best 3000m in Monaco, went to the St. Moritz highlands to adjust, and then flew into London — a tightly packed schedule of just over ten days that condenses her team's years of overseas racing experience.
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An expanding record portfolio
With this new Japanese 3000m record, Tanaka's career total of Japanese records now stands at 12 events. Major national records include:
1000 m 2:37.33 Japanese record
1500 m 3:59.19 Japanese record
2000 m 5:40.89 Japanese record
3000 m 8:32.29 Japanese record (updated this time)
5000 m 14:29.18 Japanese record
1 mile 4:28.54 Japanese record (including indoor)
1500 m (indoor) 4:08.46 Asian indoor record
1000 m (indoor) 2:39.06 Japanese indoor record
3000 m (indoor) 8:33.52 Asian indoor record (former outdoor Japanese record)
Since breaking an 18-year-old women's 3000m Japanese record in July 2020 in Fukagawa, Hokkaido, Tanaka has continued to rewrite the history of Japanese middle- and long-distance running with her range from 800m to 5000m.
This 1.23-second improvement in London once again proves that this "Japanese record-smashing machine" is still evolving.
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Text/Editor: CC
Image sources: 跑野大爆炸, social media
Visuals: Max
