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Japanese Medal Hopes Riding With Women Marathoners

Posted September 1st, 2007 at 4:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

Reiko Tosa Tomorrow morning’s women’s marathon will be the last opportunity for the Japanese team to win a medal at these 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics which draw to their conclusion tomorrow night. It was in Gothenburg in 1995 when the Japanese were last shut out of the medals, and in only two world championships have the home team not put at least one athlete on the medal stand: the Swedes in Gothenburg in 1995 and the Canadians in Edmonton in 2001.

No team has been more successful in the history of the IAAF World Championships women’s marathon than the Japanese. Of the 30 medals which have been distributed in the ten previous editions, Japan has won eight, double their nearest rival, Romania. In addition, they have won four of the last five World Cup team competitions which were first integrated with the World Championships in Athens in 1997. In Helsinki in 2005, the Japanese lost the Cup to the Kenyans by four minutes and are anxious to take it back.

Leading the Japanese will be veteran Reiko Tosa (pictured), the 31 year-old silver medalist from Edmonton in 2001 who boasts a 2:22:46 personal best. Tosa prepared for these championships in Kunming, China, according to a report in the DAILY YOMIURI newspaper.

She shocked her federation and teammates when she came back from China on crutches, the result of tripping over a pipe and deeply bruising her left knee. The accident, which caused her to miss ten days of training, might actually be a good sign. The day before the world championships in Edmonton in 2001, she fell over a speed bump and started the race with scrapes on her hands, elbows and knees. She won the silver medal.

Yumiko Hara, who ran bravely in Helsinki before fading to sixth, also has a good shot at an individual medal. She qualified for these world championships by winning the Osaka International Ladies Marathon last January, setting a personal best of 2:23:48. She has the advantage of having already run successfully on this course.

Mari Ozaki (2:23:20 PB), Kiyoko Shimahara (2:26:14) and Yasuko Hashimoto (2:25:21) make up the rest of the Japanese team.

China, led by this year’s Flora London Marathon champion Zhou Chunxia, should present the Japanese with a formidible challenge. Zhou demolished one of the best marathon fields ever assembled in London and ran a world-leading 2:20:38. Her teammates include Wei Yanan, the woman who crossed the finish line first at the 2002 Beijing Marathon in 2:20:23 but was disqualified for doping. She did not return to the highest levels of marathon running until 2007 when she ran 2:23:12 to win the Seoul International Marathon on March 18. Zhu Xiaolin (2:23:57) and Sun Weiwei (2:25:15). are also on the team.

The Kenyans will be led by 2003 world champion, and the 2005 silver medalist, Catherine Ndereba, who may have the best individual shot at the gold medal. The 35 year-old, who has four Boston Marathon victories and an Olympic silver medal to her credit, did not run a spring marathon and has put in a long build-up for this event. She’s the fastest Kenyan of all-time with a 2:18:47 personal best.

Backing up Ndereba will be Rita Jeptoo, the 2006 Boston Marathon champion with a personal best of 2:23:28; 40 year-old Edith Masai (2:27:06 PB); Hellen Kimutai (2:25:52) and Rose Cheruiyot (2:27:09). It’s a very strong team.

Other individuals with solid medal hopes include Russian record holder Galina Bogomolova (2:20:47 PB), Mexican record holder Madai Perez (2:22:59), Britain’s Mara Yamauchi (2:25:13 PB), Ethiopia’s Dire Tune (2:26:52 PB), and Algerian record holder Souad Aït Salem (2:25:08). Lidia Simon of Romania, who has an Olympic silver medal and three world championships medals, including a gold from 2001, has not been in championship form for several years, but she could surprise.

Tomorrow’s race starts at 7:00 a.m. and will feature 72 athletes from 33 nations. The winner will receive $60,000 while the winning World Cup team will receive $20,000. The weather will be very warm and humid and there is a chance of scattered thunderstorms.