Skip to main content

Still Waiting for the Return of Noguchi

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090807-00000131-jij-spo

translated by Brett Larner

Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex), who withdrew shortly before the Beijing Olympics women's marathon with an injury, revealed on Aug. 7 that despite hopes of a genuine comeback she is still unable to train nearly a full year after the original injury. Her coach Nobuyuki Fujita, in Tokyo for an event at Komazawa Park, commented, "Noguchi hasn't returned to the point yet where she can run for more than about half an hour."

According to Fujita, the pain Noguchi has experienced in her left hip and thigh for the last year is gone, but she has just started jogging again for 30 minutes at a time and is far from peak condition. Because of the injury, "Her muscles have grown stiff and her movement isn't good." Asked about a comeback race, Fujita said, "When she is able to jog for 60 to 90 minutes then we'll think about the next step," emphasizing that Noguchi's future plans are a blank slate.

In June and again in late July Noguchi visited the National Institute of Sports Science (JISS) for measurements of muscular strength in her legs.
Labels:

Comments

Roberto said…
Has any Japanese newspaper/magazine/website published something about Noguchi's injuries that contains anything but her and her coach's reports? The reports I've seen have been extremely vague, and I wonder if any investigative reporting has been done. Also, has anyone published anything critical of her/her coach's decision to keep secret the extent of her injuries until it was too late to send a replacement to Beijing last year?
August 10, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Brett Larner said…
I recall there being some criticism of Fujita at the time last year, but I think the strongest criticism, although indirect, came in the form of Rikuren taking explicit steps to improve communication about athletes' condition and potential injuries. To be fair, though, that wasn't just in reaction to Fujita/Noguchi but also to the three other athletes who were in various stages of breakdown but remained on the Beijing starting list.
August 11, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Kuroda Conquers the Mountain to Give Aoyama Gakuin the Hakone Ekiden Day One CR Again

After a wild New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships yesterday that saw new CR on 6 of the race's 7 stages and a 7-second miss on the one that wasn't broken, Day One of the 102nd Hakone Ekiden more than lived up to what the pros had done 24 hours earlier. Only one runner, Chuo University 's Yamato Yoshii in 2022, had ever broken 61 minutes for the 21.3 km First Stage , but when Chuo's Daichi Shibata took it out on CR pace the entire field went with him. It took a while for Ageo City Half winner Rui Aoki of Izumo Ekiden champ Koku Gakuin University to move up to the front, but when he did it was decisive. Aoki crushed the CR in 1:00:28, 59:54 half marathon pace, and behind him the next both Shibata and the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team's So Kawasaki from Tsukuba University also went under Yoshii's old 1:00:40 record. 4th through 8th broke 61, setting the tone for the rest of the day. Chuo, KGU, last year's top 2 Aoyama...
4 comments
Read more

GMO Wins First National Title at Era-Changing 2026 New Year Ekiden

Things have really been coming up fast the last year or so in Japanese distance running, but even so this year's New Year Ekiden really felt like the era has changed. GMO took the lead on the second of the race's 7 legs and went on to take over 2 minutes off the overall course record for the 100.0 km course, winning its first national title in 4:44:00. En route 6 of the 7 legs had new CR, a lot of them with multiple people breaking them, and the only leg that didn't, the 12.3 km First Stage, saw Shunpei Tomita of Logisteed run 34:23, only 7 seconds off the CR held by sub-27 Kenyan Martin Mathathi . The level at the collegiate Hakone Ekiden keeps going up up up , and that showed here as 3 of the new stage CR were set by guys in their first season in the corporate leagues who were some of the biggest stars at Hakone last year. Aoyama Gakuin University grad Aoi Ota sneaked in 1 second ahead of Toyota 's Jin Yuasa to set a 46:00 CR on the 15.9 km Fifth Stage. Collegi...
1 comment
Read more