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World Championships Marathoner Madoka Nakano Leaves Noritz for Iwatani Sangyo Team

After representing Japan in last fall's Doha World Championships women's marathon, on June 16 it was learned that Madoka Nakano, 28, has left the Noritz corporate team and signed with the Iwatani Sangyo team. Nakano joined Noritz in 2010 after graduating from Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin High School. She placed 4th at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon to make the Doha team, where she was 11th overall in the World Championships marathon.

Iwatani Sangyo was founded in 2017 and is based in Mino, Osaka. Its head coach is Hisakazu Hirose, 54, who helped coach Mizuki Noguchi to the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics marathon. Joining the team on the 16th, Nakano was optimistic, saying, "In this new environment I want to work hard to get to the national team level again. I want to make an impact in the ekiden too."

source article:
https://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/202006/0013428450.shtml
translated by Brett Larner

photo © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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