Shimoda Qualifies for Paris Olympic Trials at Ottawa Marathon

Three Japanese athletes ran Sunday's Tartan Ottawa International Marathon in an effort to score qualifying marks for the 2023 MGC Race, Japan's marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the men's race, Yuta Shimoda (GMO) and Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) went with the leaders all the way until eventual winner Andualem Shiferaw (Ethiopia) made his move before 30 km. Shiferaw, the favorite with a best of 2:05:52, was stellar over the second half, going 1:03:52 / 1:02:12 to set a new course record 2:06:04 for the win.

When Shiferaw attacked, Oishi, coached by 2010 Ottawa winner Arata Fujiwara, immediately dropped off, ultimately finishing 8th in 2:15:50. Shimoda, who ran 2:08:35 at March's Tokyo Marathon and needed to run 2:11:25 here to qualify for the trials, hung on to 3rd, overtaken by Abdi Ali Gelchu (Bahrain) and dropping to 4th at one point but running down Leonard Langat (Kenya) just before the finish to retake 3rd.

Yamaguchi went out in a pack of 6 women that ignored early leaders Juliet Chekwel (Uganda) and Rebecca Chesire (Kenya), both of whom eventually dropped out. By halfway that group was down to just Yamaguchi and Kinsey Middleton (Canada), but when Middleton surged on the climb across a bridge near 25 km Yamaguchi lost touch. Middleton went on to win in 2:30:09, but Yamaguchi struggled to keep it together and faded to 5th in 2:35:57.

In his victory interview Shiferaw said through an interpreter, "With the exception of the inconvenience caused by the visa application process, everything was great after I arrived here in Ottawa." This year's elite race was hard-hit by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's new online visa application system, which resulted in at least 12 men and 13 women from Mongolia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Bahrain not receiving their visas or visa-containing passports back from the IRCC in time to travel for the race.

Malcolm Anderson, head of the Moyo Sports agency, said 5 people from his group, 3 athletes and 2 pacers, had been affected. "The passports were in the Addis processing centre with visas approved, but we could not get them to be released in time for travel," Anderson said. "Immensely frustrating for all." Only 8 African athletes in the two races, not including pacers, did get their visas in time for the race. Elite athlete coordinator Dylan Wykes had assembled what would have been the strongest elite fields ever on Canadian soil to run in the nation's capital, but despite gladly taking nearly $200 per athlete in application and processing fees the IRCC apparently had other priorities than letting that happen.

2022 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon

Ottawa, Canada, 29 May 2022

complete results

Men

1. Andualem Shiferaw (Ethiopia) - 2:06:04 - CR

2. Abdi Ali Gelchu (Bahrain) - 2:09:24

3. Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:09:50

4. Leonard Langat (Kenya) - 2:09:56

5. Teshome Mekonen (Ethiopia) - 2:13:27 - debut

6. Justin Kent (Canada) - 2:13:34

7. Albert Kangogo (Kenya) - 2:13:57

8. Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) - 2:15:50

9. John Mastandrea (U.S.A.) - 2:17:28

10. Ben Kendell (U.S.A.) - 2:18:28

Women

1. Kinsey Middleton (Canada) - 2:30:09

2. Elissa Legault (Canada) - 2:33:27

3. Katja Goldring (U.S.A.) - 2:33:58

4. Anne-Marie Blaney (U.S.A.) - 2:34:38

5. Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:35:57

6. Dayna Pidhoresky (Canada) - 2:36:22

7. Lanni Marchant (Canada) - 2:39:42

8. Megan O'Neil( U.S.A.) - 2:39:55

9. Isabel Vazquez (Mexico) - 2:43:54

10. Chirine Njeim (Lebanon) - 2:46:08

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...

japan running news

Search This Blog