Skip to main content

22 Year-Old Yurika Nakamura to Bring "Courage of Youth" to Olympic Women`s Marathon

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0001115236.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Beijing Olympics women`s marathon team member Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) met the press at a conference in Okayama City on June 6. At age 22 the youngest marathoner on the men`s or women`s teams, Nakamura told the assembled crowd, "My biggest strength is my youth. [Thinking about the Olympics and] lasting until the end is scary, but I want to run a race which exceeds all expectations."

Nakamura spoke in front of 500 members of the Okayama Track and Field Association and assorted members of the press. Her mentor from her days at Nishinomiya High School, Kenkichi Hagiwara, as well as Asics` master shoe craftsman Hitoshi Mimura who made the shoes she will use in the Olympic marathon, also attended. The event concluded with a video of Nakamura`s victory in March`s Nagoya International Women`s Marathon, her debut and the race which qualified her for the Olympics. Nakamura`s pride in her accomplishment was clear as the auditorium filled with applause.

Nakamura`s coach Yutaka Taketomi also appeared at the meeting. He shed light on Nakamura`s training and preparations, revealing that she had just completed a training camp in Nagano Prefecture`s Sugidaira Takahara.

Quotes from Nakamura`s press conference:

Her Olympic goal:
"I want to run a race which exceeds all expectations. To this end I`ll be going to a training camp in America on the 11th to build my mind, body and self-confidence."

The theme of her training:
"It`s very easy to get discouraged, so building up stable self-confidence through solid practice is the most important thing. At the training camp in the States I`ll be focusing on improving my stamina and speed."

The Olympic marathon course:
"I`m studying the course to learn every corner and hill, the location of the water stations, and other details."

Her race plan:
"I plan to ride the pack`s flow as long as I can, then race the last section hard."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title

The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai. 12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura . In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out fr...
1 comment
Read more

'CAS Clears Japan’s Olympic Silver Medallist Ikeda of Doping, Overturns Ban'

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/10/23/cas-clears-japans-olympic-silver-medallist-ikeda-of-doping-overturns-ban The AIU's missteps in this case cost Tokyo Olympics and Oregon World Championships 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda , a Toyo University graduate who competes for the Asahi Kasei corporate team, the chance to represent Japan at a home soil World Championships last year. It is almost unheard of for an athlete to successfully fight a biological passport suspension as Ikeda did, making this a highly significant case. The CAS' press release about its decision stated: "The Panel stressed that the Athlete did not merely assert his position on the ABP abnormalities but adduced very extensive evidence in support of his explanations. In this highly complex case, the evidence brought during the CAS proceedings was far more abundant and specific than during the first instance proceedings with the WA Disciplinary Tribunal, implying the CAS Panel had further ...
Post a Comment
Read more

3-Time Olympic Marathoner Akio Usami Passes Away

3-time Olympic marathoner Akio Usami died of cancer on Oct. 26. He was 83. Born May 31, 1943 in Yoshida, Niigata as the third of 9 siblings, Usami played basketball in junior high school and tennis in high school before starting running after entering Nihon University . Running with a recreational club his 1st year, he joined the NU track team his 2nd year just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and immediately showed promise, making NU's Hakone Ekiden starting team 3 years in a row. During his 3rd year he won the Ninth Stage at the 41st Hakone in 1965, playing a key role in NU's overall victory. After graduating he joined the Riccar corporate team and was superb in the marathon, a distance he had already started running while in university. He took 9th in the marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, 12th in the 1972 Munich Olympics marathon, and 32nd in the 1976 Montreal Olympics marathon. Other achievements in his outstanding career included 4-straight marathon wins in intern...
Post a Comment
Read more