Miyuki Uehara (; born 22 November 1995) is a Japanese female

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who competes in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

. Born in

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

, she attended high school there and after graduation became a professional corporate runner with

Dai-ichi Life , or Dai-ichi Life for short, is the third-largest life insurer in Japan by revenue, behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life. Founded on September 15, 1902, Dai-Ichi was one of the oldest mutual insurance companies in Japan until a motion to ...

. She made her first progress at senior national level in 2015, coming seventh at the Japanese National Games, then took fifth over 5000 m at the 2016

Japan Championships in Athletics The is an annual outdoor track and field competition, organized by Japan Association of Athletics Federations. Currently it takes place in June or July. The competition is also for the qualifying trial for the Japanese national team of internati ...

. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

athlete, she made her breakthrough at the

Asian Cross Country Championships The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held ...

, leading the Japanese in the individual and team events for two junior gold medals. Later that year, she placed eighth on the track in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Athletics U20 Championships, World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international Sport of athletics, athletics competition for athletes qualifying as Junior (athletics), juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the E ...

. She was on Japan's fourth-placed junior team at the

2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2013. The races were held at the Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold, and Ethiopia had the most overall ...

. In 2015, she improved her track bests to 15:21.40 minutes for the 5000 m and 32:16.66 minutes for the 10,000 m. Under the guidance of coach

Sachiko Yamashita is a Japanese former long-distance runner, who won the silver medal in the women's marathon at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in ...

(a former world medallist in the marathon), she gained selection for

Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics Japan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1912, Japanese athletes had appeared at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except for two editions; the ...

and, after front-running her heat, she made it to the Olympic 5000 m final – only the second Japanese woman to achieve that feat.

International competitions

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uehara, Miyuki 1995 births Living people Japanese female long-distance runners Japanese female cross country runners Olympic athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Dai-ichi Life Sportspeople from Kagoshima 21st-century Japanese sportswomen