Hitomi Nakajima

Last updated
Hitomi Nakajima
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born (1995-07-13) 13 July 1995 (age 30)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event
Hurdles
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)60m hurdles: 8.15 (Osaka, 2025)
100m hurdles: 12.71 (Tampere, 2023)

Hitomi Nakajima (born 13 July 1995) is a Japanese sprint hurdler. She was runner-up in the 100 metres hurdles at the Japanese Athletics Championships in 2025, and was a semi-finalist at the 2025 World Championships. [1]

Career

Nakajima attended Shukugawa Gakuin High School in Kobe, and Sonoda Gakuen University in Amagasaki Japan. She started in 100 metres hurdles at high school won the All-Japan Junior High School Championships, the Japan youth championships and the Japanese Games, but had a period of not competing due to a stress related illness, prior to returning to the sport and placing fourth at the Japanese Athletics Championships in 2022. She ran below 13 seconds for the 100m hurdles for the first time in September 2024. [2]

In July 2025, she was runner-up to Yumi Tanaka at the 2025 Japanese Athletics Championships, running 12.86 seconds in the final. [3] That month, she ran a personal best of 12.71 seconds at the Motonet GP Tampere in Tampere, Finland to finish ahead of an international-class field including local athlete Lotta Harala, as well as Maayke Tjin-A-Lim of the Netherlands and Australian Michelle Jenneke. [4] She met the automatic standard for the upcoming world championships and was subsequently named in the Japanese team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and spoke of her pride at representing Japan at the team unveiling. [5] [6] On 15 September, she was a semi-finalist at the women's 100 metres hurdles, having run 12.88 seconds to place fifth in her heat won by Tobi Amusan to proceed as a time qualifier, before placing seventh in her semi-final in a time of 13.02. [7] [8]

References

  1. "Hitomi Nakajima". World Athletics. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  2. "Hitomi Nakajima, Track and field athlete - To the people who changed me when I felt empty". Tokyo Foresdd 2025. 2 Sep 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  3. "Japanese Championships". World Athletics. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  4. "Motonet GP Tampere". World Athletics. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  5. "Team Japan seeks 'passionate support' at World Athletics Championships". Japan Times. 5 Sep 2025. Retrieved 22 Sep 2025.
  6. "Japan names 80-strong host nation team for WCH Tokyo 25". World Athletics. 2 Sep 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  7. "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  8. "Tokyo 2025: Tobi Amusan advances to 100m hurdles semi-finals". aclsports.com. Retrieved 22 Sep 2025.