track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
athlete who competes in the women's
heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...
. She represented Japan at the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
and has competed twice at the
World Championships in Athletics
The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...
. She was the
silver medal
A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...
list at the
2009 Asian Athletics Championships
The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009.
Results
Men
Track
Field
Women
Track
Field
Medal table
Participating nations
* (12)
* (1)
* (1)
* (77)
* (22)
* ...
and the
2010 Asian Games
The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...
and has won the heptathlon at the
East Asian Games
The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council ...
and the
Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
The Asian Indoor Athletics Championships were held for the first time in 2004. Run by the Asian Athletics Association, the championships take place biennially in different cities all over Asia.national record for the event.
Biography
Born in
Shiga Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...
, her first international medal in the event came at the 1996
Asian Junior Athletics Championships
The Asian U20 Athletics Championships (formerly Asian Junior Athletics Championships) are the Asian championships open for those of age according to junior. It is currently organized by the Asian Athletics Association.silver medal
A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...
behind India's
Soma Biswas
Soma Biswas (born 16 May 1978 in Ranaghat) is an Indian former athlete from West Bengal who represented India in the heptathlon. She rose to fame when she won the silver medal in 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. She won another silve ...
. She made her international debut two years later at the
1998 Asian Athletics Championships
The 12th Asian Championships in Athletics were held in Fukuoka, Japan in July 1998.
Medal summary Men
Women
Medal table
See also
*1998 in athletics (track and field)
External linksGBR Athletics
{{asian athletics champs
Asian Athlet ...
, finishing ninth, and returned to the competition in
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, improving to sixth place. That year she broke the Japanese national record in the heptathlon, recording 5642 points. She improved her best further in 2001 with a score of 5862 points and gained her first national title in 2002. Nakata was selected to represent Japan at the
2002 Asian Games
The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...
as a result and she ended the competition in fifth place.
The 2003 season saw her reach new heights as she retained her national heptathlon title with a Japanese record of 5910 points. An international senior medal followed later that year at the
2003 Asian Athletics Championships
The 15th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Manila, Philippines on September 20–23, 2003 in sports, 2003.
Results
Men
Women
Medal table
Participating nations
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* ...
where she was runner-up to Kazakh athlete
Irina Naumenko
Irina Vladimirovna Karpova (née Naumenko, ; born 13 February 1980 in Kamenogorsk, East Kazakhstan Region) is a Kazakhstani heptathlete.
Naumenko was 2nd at the Hexham International Combined Events Meeting in 2005 (5438pts)
She married Dmitr ...
. She won the inaugural
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
in the
women's pentathlon
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day (formerly two days). The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with t ...
at the
2004 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
The 2004 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was an international indoor athletics event took place in Tehran, Iran, between 6 and 8 February. The female events were held separately from the men's events, taking place during the morning sessions. ...
. She was on top form at the Japanese Athletics Championships, winning a third straight title with another national record of 5962 points. She became the first Japanese woman to enter the Olympic heptathlon at the 2004 Athens Games, but she did not match her performance from earlier that season and came 28th (last) with a total of 4871 points.
After another win nationally in 2005, she made her debut at the
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...
. She scored 5735 points for twentieth place, but was again in last place among all the heptathlon finishers. She closed the year with a silver medal at the
East Asian Games
The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council ...
, finishing behind Wang Hailan of China. Nakata had 4037 points in the pentathlon at the
2006 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
The 2006 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was an international indoor athletics event took place in Pattaya, Thailand, between 10 and 12 February. This was the first edition to be hosted in the country. A total of 24 nations sent athletes to c ...
, but this was not enough for a medal. She fared better outdoors, winning the heptathlon and coming fifth in the
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
at the Japanese nationals and going on to finish just behind bronze medalist
J. J. Shobha
Javur Jagadeeshappa Shobha (born 14 January 1978) is an Indian professional track and field athlete from a village called Pashupathihaal near Dharwad in Karnataka. She currently resides in Secunderabad in Telangana, India. She participated in th ...
at the
2006 Asian Games
The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...
in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
. Nakata repeated her national placings at the 2007 Japanese Championships and made her third global level appearance at the
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...
, held on home turf in
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
. She finished the heptathlon competition with a score of 5869 points, which included a personal best of 2:17.61 minutes in the final
800 metres
The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...
event.
She won the 2008 Japanese heptathlon title, but did not achieve the entry standard needed for the
2008 Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
. An eighth consecutive Japanese title came in 2009, She did not compete at the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
that year, but won a silver at the
2009 Asian Athletics Championships
The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009.
Results
Men
Track
Field
Women
Track
Field
Medal table
Participating nations
* (12)
* (1)
* (1)
* (77)
* (22)
* ...
in November and a
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
at the
2009 East Asian Games
The 2009 East Asian Games, officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 east asia, East Asian national compet ...
a month later.
Following a ninth national title, she competed at the
2010 Asian Games
The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...