Skip to main content

1500 m National Record Holder Yuriko Kobayashi Gives Birth to First Child

https://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/201705/0010198888.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Women's 1500 m national record holder and 2008 Beijing Olympian Yuriko Kobayashi, 28, a resident of Kakogawa, Hyogo and born in Ono, Hyogo, gave birth to her first child, a boy, the morning of May 18. Kobayashi retired from competition in December, 2014. In December, 2015 she married a man the same age as her involved in the landscaping business who had run in the National High School Ekiden Championships while attending Hyogo's Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. In addition to giving lectures and making appearances at amateur races, Kobayashi has been teaching mathematics at a prison for juvenile offenders in Kakogawa. About three and a half hours after giving birth she commented, "That gave me a taste of a whole different kind of suffering and excitement from athletics. I hope that he grows up a healthy boy."

Translator's note: Kobayashi holds a total of four youth, junior and open national records over 1500 m and 3000 m. Late in her career she relocated to the U.S.A. to train with coach James Li but returned when she was unable to alter her career trajectory.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Gold Coast Half Marathon and Marathon Preview

Australia's Gold Coast Half Marathon and Marathon are big draws for Japanese corporate leaguers these days, especially with a big contingent from this year's National Corporate Half Marathon dominating the entry lists in the half. Two-time winner Sara Hall is top-ranked in the women's half with a 1:07:15 from Houston two years ago and will mostly be racing Leanne Pompeani for the win. Beyond that there's a big group at the 1:10 level including Japan's Rinka Hida , Yukari Nagatomo and Moe Shimizu who should all be in it for 3rd. The men's half is dominated by four Japanese men who broke 1:01 at the National Corporate Half in February, meaning that if the weather is decent then the 1:01:16 CR is likely to fall to Shunsuke Shikama , Koki Kamata , Soshi Suzuki or Daisuke Doi . That's a big if, though, with >50% chance of rain and a headwind in the 2nd half that's forecast to get stronger as the race goes along. The favorite for the win and a shot at...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kondo Runs Fastest-Ever Japanese Time at TCS New York City Marathon

Coming at a key point in ekiden season, few elite-level Japanese athletes run the TCS New York City Marathon, but this year 3 were on the line, 2026 Osaka Women's Marathon 6th-placer Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku), last year's Osaka Marathon men's runner-up Ryota Kondo (Mitsubishi Juko), and former men's NR holder Kengo Suzuki (Nike). In t he women's race , Kawauchi, a 2:24:16 runner, lost touch with the lead group before 20 km, going through halfway in 1:14:04 en route to an 18th-place finish in 2:31:29. Surprisingly, that was still the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman in New York, and the fastest since double Olympic medalist Yuko Arimori ran 2:31:12 in 2000. In the men's race , both Kondo and Suzuki took turns surging to the front, Suzuki doing it early and paying for it with splits of 1:04:06/1:08:09, ultimately landing 23rd in 2:12:15. Kondo, whose Osaka run last year was a solid debut of 2:05:39, was in it til the end and made multiple moves ov...
1 comment
Read more