NAGOYA - Japan's Ko Ochiai ran to victory in the men's 800-meter gold medal Tuesday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in a meet-record 1 minute, 44.48 seconds.
Ochiai shaved nearly a second off the previous Asian Games record of 1:45.45 set by Iran's Sajad Moradi in 2010.
The 20-year-old Ochiai, who finished 0.62 ahead of silver medalist Ali Amirian of Iran, is the first Japanese athlete to win the event in 64 years.
"I was aiming for the 43-second range and a personal best -- so in that sense, the time didn't quite materialize -- but since this was a race where the outcome was what mattered most, the fact that I managed to secure the win is something I can view positively," Ochiai said.
In the women's race, 18-year-old Rin Kubo finished fourth in 2:05.46, trailing gold medalist Wu Hongjiao of China by 0.97. Japan's Ayano Shiomi was fifth in 2:05.76.
At Izu Velodrome, Japan took silver in the men's team sprint, finishing 0.359 behind China, which won in an Asian Games record 42.152.
