Julian Jrummi Walsh in action at the World Athletics Relays (© Getty Images)
Japan has selected a youthful team of 23 athletes to compete at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21 on 1-2 May.
Asian 4x400m champion Julian Jrummi Walsh is one of the more experienced athletes on the team. He leads a 4x400m squad that will be aiming for a top-eight finish in Silesia, having narrowly missed out on making the final – and a guaranteed place at the Olympics – at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
National champions Remi Turuta and Rikuya Ito are also part of the line-up, as are teenagers Hiroki Yanagita, Hanae Aoyama, Yu Ishikawa and Saki Takashima.
A team for the mixed 4x400m will be drawn from the athletes named in the men's and women's 4x400m pools.
In addition to the 23 selected athletes, six non-travelling reserves have been named.
Japanese team for Silesia
WOMEN
4x100m: Hanae Aoyama, Yu Ishikawa, Mei Kodama, Sayaka Oishi, Ami Saito, Remi Turuta.
4x400m: Seika Aoyama, Ayaka Kawata, Mayu Kobayashi, Nanako Matsumoto, Asami Shintaku, Ami Saito, Saki Takashima.
MEN
4x100m: Kazuma Higuchi, Soshi Mizukubo, Ryuichiro Sakai, Ryota Suzuki, Hiroki Yanagita. Reserves: Bruno Dede, Seiya Kusano, Daisuke Miyamoto.
4x400m: Kohsuke Ikeda, Kohei Itahana, Rikuya Ito, Kaito Kawabata, Kentaro Sato, Julian Jrummi Walsh. Reserves: Naoki Kobayashi, Mizuki Obuchi, Aoto Suzuki.
