Skip to main content

Tokyo Olympic Marathon Course to Start and Finish at Olympic Stadium, Follow Tokyo Marathon Course

2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee sports division executive Koji Murofushi announced plans on Aug. 22 for the Olympic marathon course to start and finish at the New National Stadium and follow the same basic course as February's Tokyo Marathon. IAAF representatives will attend the next Tokyo Marathon to observe and are expected to give formal approval in March.

The Tokyo Marathon starts in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government offices, passing many famed landmarks including Tokyo Tower, Ginza, Kaminarimon and Tomioka Hachiman Shrine before finishing between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station. The 2020 Olympic course will move the start and finish point inside the New National Stadium. Regarding the reasons behind the plan Murofushi commented, "Because there is already an established base of experience it will be easier to work with relevant domestic parties. It's a well-balanced course that shows off many symbols of Japan and of Tokyo."

One point of concern from the IAAF is whether organizers would be able to fill the 60,000-seat New National Stadium for the marathon start and finish. Murofushi said that organizers are considering how to increase the appeal of being inside the stadium while the runners are out on the roads. "We have to think about whether the focus is on supporting the athletes or on providing entertainment," he said.

Translator's note: The proposed plan would return the marathon finish to the Olympic stadium for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Use of the Tokyo Marathon course would also mark a departure from the circuit course style used in recent Olympic and World Championships marathons.

source article:
https://www.nikkansports.com/general/nikkan/news/1876061.html
translated by Brett Larner
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more