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2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Women’s Marathon
Posted August 16th, 2008 at 2:45 PM by Jesse Squire
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics
Women’s Marathon
The Schedule: Sunday, Aug 17 (live on NBC, Saturday Aug 16 at 7:30 p.m. EDT)
The Americans: Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Blake Russell
The Contenders: Zhou Chunxiu (CHN), Catherine Ndereba (KEN), Gete Wami (ETH), Paula Radcliffe (GBR), Zhu Xiaolin (CHN), Reiko Tosa (JPN)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN - Zhou, Ndereba, Wami;
SI - Zhou, Wami, Ndereba
The Story: Big recent news: Defending champ Noguchi is not running. Less big, less recent: Paula Radcliffe is in.
The universal favorite is China’s own Zhou Chunxiu, and personally I don’t see anyone else jumping out at me as someone else to pick. On the other hand, Ndereba beat her at last year’s Worlds where both had to deal with the same kind of heat and humidity nearly guaranteed in this year’s race. And her recent win in the NYC Half Marathon can either be viewed as proof of top condition or an energy-sapping effort too close to the big race. I just don’t know what to think.
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Japan Announces Olympic Marathon Teams
Posted March 11th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics
In a widely anticipated announcement made earlier today, officials of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced their marathon teams for the Beijing Olympic Games. In Japan, this is big news, on a par with Americans learning which college football player will be drafted first by the NFL.
The men’s team will be made up of Tsuyoshi Ogata and Atsushi Sato, both of the Chuugoku Electric Power corporate team, and Satoshi Osaki of NTT. Ogata got the nod by being the top Japanese man at the hot and humid IAAF World Championships in Osaka last August, finishing fifth overall in 2:17:42. Sato, who set the Asian record for the half-marathon at last year’s IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, made the team based on his excellent 2:07:13 (3rd place/top Japanese) at last December’s Fukuoka Marathon. Osaki was the top Japanese finisher at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier this month.
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Focus to Be on Japanese Women at Nagoya Marathon Next Sunday
Posted March 4th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Next Sunday’s 28th Nagoya International Women’s Marathon will be the last of six qualifying marathons for the Japanese Olympic team, and the last of three for women. Competition for the one remaining team slot will be intense.
Reiko Tosa locked up the first team spot with her gutsy bronze medal finish at last summer’s IAAF World Championships, while reigning Olympic champion, Mizuki Noguchi, is almost assured a spot on the team by winning last November’s Tokyo International Women’s Marathon in 2:21:37. The third spot will go to either to Tomo Morimoto, who clocked 2:25:34 in second place (first Japanese) at the Osaka International Women’s Marathon last January, OR the top Japanese finisher in Nagoya who should top Morimoto’s mark.
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Noguchi Wins Tokyo International Ladies Marathon
Posted November 18th, 2007 at 10:17 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Reigning Olympic Marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi won today’s 29th edition of the Tokyo International Ladies Marathon and, almost with certainty, has secured a position on the Japanese team for the Beijing Olympics next August.
Noguchi, 29, dominated the race to win in a new course record of 2:21:37. Her chief rival, Yoko Shibui, stayed within striking distance through 30 km, but faded badly in the final stages of the race to finish seventh in 2:34:19.
Kenyan Salina Kosgei, who ran Tokyo because her USA visa did not come through in time to compete at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, gave the Olympic champion her biggest challenge, staying with Noguchi through 35 km (1:57:28). But Noguchi ran 16:56 from 35-K to 40-K to Kosgei’s 18:02. Kosgei finished second in 2:23:31, just slightly shy of her personal best time.
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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
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.
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Tosa Defeats Takahashi at the 2006 Tokyo International Women’s Marathon
Posted November 19th, 2006 at 12:11 PM by Jenna Sumara
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Reiko Tosa defeated a competitive field, including 2000 Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi, at today’s Tokyo International Women’s Marathon. Tosa’s winning time was 2:26:15. Although Tosa was expected to place well, Takahashi had been the favorite to come away with this year’s title.
Takahashi was the first woman to ever break the 2:20 mark at the 2001 Berlin Marathon and last year’s Tokyo Women’s Marathon champion. Takahashi finished a disappointing third and ran her slowest time marathon time ever. In addition, this morning’s race marked the first time she had ever lost to another Japanese woman and her worst finish since her debut at the 1997 Osaka Ladies Marathon. Read the rest of this entry »
Who had the more impressive Boston Marathon debut?
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The Final Sprint
On March 15, 2010
SDrunner said:
Great review, I wrote one on the Ironman Road Trainer HRM, which is similar to this one, without the...