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

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Hmmn, this doesn't sound very promising.
Simon Phillips said…
Should make for an exciting race though in a "will she, won't she?" type of way. Hope she does well.

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

National Track and Field Championships Entry List Highlights

Entry lists are out for next week's National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya, the main selection event for Japan's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games and Copenhagen World Road Running Championships. Top entries in each event with best time in 2025-26. Asterisks indicate 2025 national champions. Men Men's 100 m *Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 9.99 Sorato Shimizu (Seiryu H.S.) - 10.00 Yuhi Mori (Watanabe Pipe) - 10.00 Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.06 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.08 Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.08 Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 Ryota Suzuki (Suzuki) - 10.11 Naoki Inoue (Osaka Gas) - 10.12 Rikuto Higuchi (Suzuki) - 10.12 Men's 200 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.45 Aoto Suzuki (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.49 Kota Uematsu (Chuo Univ.) - 20.50 Yuji Michael Orisa (GK Line) - 20.51 Soshi Mizukubo (Miyazaki T&F) - 20.51 Mitsuhiro Numata (Legalis) - 20.58 Seisho Sasaki (Iwate Univ.) - 20.60 Sota Miwa (Koizumi) - 20.61 Naoki Uemoto (Lega...