is a retired Japanese sprinter who specialized in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He won the bronze medal at the 1998 Asian Championships in a career best time of 45.69 seconds. He was then selected to represent Asia in

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

at the

1998 IAAF World Cup The 8th IAAF World Cup in Athletics were held 11–13 September 1998 at the Johannesburg Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Overall results Medal summary Men ''Africa'' , , 3:40.87 , ''Europe'', , 3:40.95 , ''Great Britain'', , 3: ...

, and finished sixth with teammates Ibrahim Ismail Faraj,

Sugath Tillakaratne Deshabandu Robosingho Arachchilage Don Sugath Thilakaratne (born July 30, 1973), commonly as Sugath Thilakaratne, is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter and a politician. Specialized in the 400 metres, Thilakaratne is the current record holder for t ...

and fellow Japanese sprinter

Masayoshi Kan is a retired Japanese sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He won bronze medals in 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1993 and 1995 World Indoor Championships In 1998 he won the silver medal at ...

. Tabata also competed at two World Championships (

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) as well as the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

where he failed to reach the final round.

International competition

¹Competed only in the heat.

National titles

* Japanese Championships **400 m: 1998, 2002

References

External links

* *
Kenji Tabata
at JAAF (archived)
Kenji Tabata
at

Mizuno () is a Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company, founded in Osaka in 1906 by Rihachi Mizuno. Today, Mizuno is a global corporation which makes a wide variety of sports equipment and sportswear for table tennis, boxing, badminton, gol ...

(archived) 1974 births Living people Athletes from Aichi Prefecture Japanese male sprinters Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Competitors at the 1995 Summer Universiade World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan Japan Championships in Athletics winners Asian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Japanese sportsmen 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Japan-sprint-athletics-bio-stub