Skip to main content

Shibui Returns From Arizona "Ready to Run" After Considering Dropping Out of World Championships

translated and edited by Brett Larner
source articles at bottom

Marathoner Yoko Shibui (30, Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) returned to Japan from her high-altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona on Aug. 10 ahead of her run at the Berlin World Championships on Aug. 23. With regard to the left thigh injury she suffered in April Shibui said, "It more or less doesn't hurt. My balance is back to normal and I can run like I did before again. I'm not going to think bad thoughts any more. I'm ready to run."

Last month before leaving for Flagstaff Shibui ran dismally at the Sapporo International Half Marathon, finishing 23rd and clocking her worst-ever mark for the distance. "At the time I thought, 'There's no way I can run [the World Championships] now," she said, her first public admission that she had considered dropping out of this year's Championships. Once arriving in Arizona, however, she began to feel good in training. "I started clawing my way up out of the hole," Shibui said of the camp.

In Flagstaff Shibui completed only one 30 km run, but as part of her training in the U.S. she ran the San Francisco marathon on July 26, winning in 2:46:34. "I was really irritated by how many hills there were," she laughed. "I've never run such a hard course before." Her coach Takao Watanabe commented, "After San Francisco she was a different person."

While training in Flagstaff Shibui was avidly following online the plight of actress Noriko Sakai who was arrested this week on charges of amphetamine usage. "I can understand how someone would want to escape reality when things start going wrong," Shibui said of Sakai. With regard to her own troubles this spring, though, Shibui said, "My determination is set. It's not going to break. I hope that I can use all the hardship I've been having to help me deal with the hard parts of the race."

Shibui leaves for Berlin on Aug. 16, one week before the big race. Coach Watanabe said, "The most important thing now is to keep her condition from slipping. Her peak is still to come." In the 2001 Edmonton World Championships marathon Shibui was 4th. This time, she says, "I'm going to improve on what I did eight years ago."

http://www.sanin-chuo.co.jp/sports/modules/news/article.php?storyid=993458008
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090811-529677.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2009/08/11/08.html
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/sports/news/CK2009081102000117.html
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/2009/news/f-sp-tp0-20090810-529554.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/090811/spg0908110532000-n1.htm

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Hmmn, this doesn't sound very promising.
August 12, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Simon Phillips said…
Should make for an exciting race though in a "will she, won't she?" type of way. Hope she does well.
August 13, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
1 comment
Read more

10 Meet Records and a National Record at Hyogo Relay Carnival

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...
Post a Comment
Read more

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...
Post a Comment
Read more