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2024 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field


The Tokyo Marathon is back for its 2024 race with deep fields of ten sub-2:20 women and eleven sub-2:05 men led by 2023 winners Rosemary Wanjiru and Chalu Deso Gelmisa, 2023 world champions Amane Beriso Shankule and Victor Kiplangat, and top-ranked Sifan Hassan and Eliud Kipchoge. Last year's top three wheelchair women Manuel Schar, Tsubasa Kina and Madison de Rosario all return, with men's 2nd and 3rd-placers Tomoki Suzuki and Sho Watanabe both back in the absence of winner Marcel Hug.

Hassan is the only one of the top five-ranked women who hasn't run Tokyo before, but that's probably not going to give her much of a competitive disadvantage. Budapest gold medalist Amane is her toughest competition on paper, but while Wanjiru was only 6th in Budapest the possibility of a late-race battle between any combination of Hassan, Amane and Wanjiru is pretty exciting.

Tokyo doesn't count in Olympic team qualification for women, so it's a slight surprise that all-time JPN #3 Hitomi Niiya is really giving up on an Olympic spot to try to get the NR she's missed in two attempts so far. But ultimately that's in keeping with her strengths. The bar's a bit higher since Honami Maeda beat her to the punch with a 2:18:59 NR without male pacers this past weekend in Osaka, but while Niiya hasn't run well since her 2:19:24 in Houston over a year ago she's the only one out there right now who has/had the ability to better Maeda's time.

There's a big gap beyond the top ten women to the next-best, 2:25:20 runner Yumi Yoshikawa, and in the next tier are two women who are going for the Olympics, 2024 Asian marathon champion Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh and Canadian Andrea Seccafien. Galbadrakh ran a PB of 2:28:33 for 2nd in Taipei in mid-December after going out at 2:21 pace, then won the Asian Marathon Championships in Hong Kong last week in a 2:33:50 training run. Seccafien will be making her debut. Both will be targeting the 2:26:50 Olympic standard.

Kipchoge set a course record 2:02:40 to win Tokyo in 2022, so as his first marathon since losing his world record it's a kind of safe place for him where he can regroup and try to pull out another AWMM win. His 2:02:42 win in Berlin last fall was still better than anything anyone else in the field has done, and anything close to that will give him a good chance of the win. Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich was 31 seconds back in Berlin in 2nd, so as the #2-ranked man in Tokyo that makes for a good rematch. Rotterdam runner-up Timothy Kiplagat was under 2:04 there, and with Chicago 2nd-placer Benson Kipruto weighing in at 2:04:02 there's the core of a pretty good group to try to work Kipchoge over. It's a deep enough front end that last year's champ Chalu is only the 9th-fastest guy in the race.

While the women only have Nagoya left to try to score the third spot on the Paris Olympic team, men have both Osaka and Tokyo. But realistically everyone who is seriously going for it will be in Tokyo. That includes NR holder Kengo Suzuki, who dropped out of last fall's Olympic trials, last year's 2:05 Tokyo duo Ichitaka Yamashita and Kenya Sonota, 2023 Osaka 2:06 debutants Kazuya Nishiyama and Yohei Ikeda, 2:06:35 guy Kyohei Hosoya, and 2021 Tokyo Olympian Yuma Hattori.

But this is Japan, and nobody does the super-deep shinkansen-style races like they do, except maybe Spain these days. There are another 28 Japanese men in the 2:06-2:09 range, and you can expect just about every single one of them and dozens more to go with the pace to hit the time needed to steal the third spot on the Paris team from trials 3rd-placer Suguru Osako, 2:05:50. One wild card is Yusuke Tamura, making a debut off a 1:00:38 half marathon best. He's been stable as he's moved up in distance, and as a training partner of Hosoya's under coach Akinori Shibutani there's pretty good reason to think he's going to handle to jump.

The Tokyo Marathon will be broadcast live worldwide. JRN's Brett Larner will be handling commentary for producers Nippon TV again this year. See you then.

2024 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field Highlights

times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Wheelchair Women
2001. Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Great Britain) - 1:34:17 (Berlin 2023)
2002. Manuela Schar (Switzerland) - 1:34:17 (Berlin 2023)
2003. Susannah Scaroni (U.S.A.) - 1:34:31 (Berlin 2023)
2007. Wakako Tsuchida (Japan) - 1:37:59 (Oita Int'l 2022)
2008. Tsubasa Kina (Japan) - 1:38:11 (Oita Int'l 2022)
2004. Madison de Rosario (Australia) - 1:38:51 (London 2023)

Wheelchair Men
1005. Tomoki Suzuki (Japan) - 1:18:37 (Oita Int'l 2021)
1001. Daniel Romanchuk (U.S.A.) - 1:24:40 (London 2022)
1007. Ryota Yoshida (Japan) - 1:26:49 (Oita Int'l 2023)
1008. Sho Watanabe (Japan) - 1:28:16 (Oita Int'l 2023)
1002. Johnboy Smith (Great Britain) - 1:31:05 (Tokyo 2021)
1003. Jake Lappin (Australia) - 1:31:17 (Berlin 2023)
1004. Joshua Cassidy (Canada) - 1:33:29 (Chicago 2023)

Women
51. Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) - 2:13:44 (Chicago 2023)
52. Amane Beriso Shankule (Ethiopia) - 2:14:58 (Valencia 2022)
53. Rosemary Wanjiru (Kenya) - 2:16:28 (Tokyo 2023)
55. Tigist Abayechew (Ethiopia) - 2:18:03 (Berlin 2022)
56. Sutume Asefa Kebede (Ethiopia) - 2:18:12 (Seoul 2022)
57. Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) - 2:18:41 (Berlin 2023)
54. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (Israel) - 2:18:45 (Nagoya 2022)
60. Hitomi Niiya (Japan) - 2:19:24 (Houston 2023)
58. Buzunesh Getachew (Ethiopia) - 2:19:27 (Frankfurt 2023)
59. Meseret Abebayahau (Ethiopia) - 2:19:50 (Amsterdam 2023)
341. Betsy Saina (U.S.A.) - 2:21:40 (Tokyo 2023) - added 16 Feb.
61. Yumi Yoshikawa (Japan) - 2:25:20 (Osaka Women's 2023)
301. Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh (Mongolia) - 2:28:33 (Taipei 2023)
302. Shiho Kaneshige (Japan) - 2:29:26 (Tokyo 2022)
303. Misato Horie (Japan) - 2:32:10 (Osaka 2022)
304. Ai Ikemoto (Japan) - 2:34:17 (Hofu 2022)
340. Andrea Seccafien (Canada) - debut - 1:11:33 (NYC Half 2022)

Men
1. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) - 2:01:09 (Berlin 2022)
2. Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (Kenya) - 2:03:13 (Berlin 2023)
3. Timothy Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:03:50 (Rotterdam 2023)
4. Benson Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:04:02 (Chicago 2023)
101. Bethwel Kibet (Kenya) - 2:04:37 (Amsterdam 2023)
5. Hailemaryam Kiros (Ethiopia) - 2:04:41 (Paris 2021)
6. Andualem Belay (Ethiopia) - 2:04:44 (Berlin 2023)
7. Tsegaye Getachew (Ethiopia) - 2:04:49 (Amsterdam 2022)
8. Chalu Deso (Ethiopia) - 2:04:56 (Valencia 2022)
10. Kengo Suzuki (Japan) - 2:04:56 (Lake Biwa 2021)
102. Bazezew Asmare (Ethiopia) - 2:04:57 (Amsterdam 2022)
9. Victor Kiplangat (Uganda) - 2:05:09 (Hamburg 2022)
11. Ichitaka Yamashita (Japan) - 2:05:51 (Tokyo 2023)
12. Kenya Sonota (Japan) - 2:05:59 (Tokyo 2023)
103. Haimro Alame (Israel) - 2:06:04 (Valencia 2023)
104. Bedan Karoki (Kenya) - 2:06:15 (Tokyo 2020)
13. Kyohei Hosoya (Japan) - 2:06:35 (Lake Biwa 2021)
14. Kazuya Nishiyama (Japan) - 2:06:45 (Osaka 2023)
105. Yusuke Ogura (Japan) - 2:06:51 (Lake Biwa 2021)
15. Yohei Ikeda (Japan) - 2:06:53 (Kao 2023) - scratch 16 Feb.
107. Michael Githae (Kenya) - 2:07:08 (Fukuoka Int'l 2023)
108. Shuho Dairokuno (Japan) - 2:07:12 (Lake Biwa 2021)
109. Simon Kariuki (Kenya) - 2:07:18 (Lake Biwa 2021)
110. Masato Kikuchi (Japan) - 2:07:20 (Lake Biwa 2021)
106. Toshiki Sadakata (Japan) - 2:07:24 (Osaka 2023)
112. Masaki Sakuda (Japan) - 2:07:42 (Lake Biwa 2021)
113. Yusuke Nishiyama (Japan) - 2:07:47 (Beppu-Oita 2022)
114. Shungo Yokota (Japan) - 2:07:47 (Beppu-Oita 2023)
115. Yuhei Urano (Japan) - 2:07:52 (Osaka 2022)
111. Shin Kimura (Japan) - 2:07:55 (Beppu-Oita 2023)
116. Yugo Kashiwa (Japan) - 2:08:11 (Osaka 2023)
117. Kenta Uchida (Japan) - 2:08:12 (Lake Biwa 2021)
118. Shunya Kikuchi (Japan) - 2:08:20 (Osaka 2023)
120. Keisuke Hayashi (Japan) - 2:08:21 (Tokyo 2022)
121. Kensuke Horio (Japan) - 2:08:25 (Tokyo 2022)
122. Yuki Nakamura (Japan) - 2:08:29 (Hofu 2022)
123. Kiyoshi Koga (Japan) - 2:08:30 (Beppu-Oita 2022)
124. Kenji Yamamoto (Japan) - 2:08:38 (Osaka 2022)
125. Naoki Aiba (Japan) - 2:08:44 (Beppu-Oita 2022)
126. Kazuma Kubo (Japan) - 2:08:48 (Tokyo 2022)
128. Takashi Ichida (Japan) - 2:08:57 (Chicago 2023)
119. Naoya Sakuda (Japan) - 2:09:06 (Beppu-Oita 2023)
127. Minato Oishi (Japan) - 2:09:08 (Fukuoka Int'l 2022)
129. Kohei Futaoka (Japan) - 2:09:14 (Fukuoka Int'l 2021)
130. Masaya Taguchi (Japan) - 2:09:27 (Tokyo 2022)
131. Kyoya Tsujino (Japan) - 2:09:39 (Osaka 2023)
132. Takamitsu Hashimoto (Japan) - 2:09:43 (Lake Biwa 2021)
133. Koki Takada (Japan) - 2:09:45 (Fukuoka Int'l 2022)
134. Yuma Hattori (Japan) - 2:09:47 (Osaka 2023)
138. Benard Kimeli (Kenya) - 2:10:50 (Berlin 2021)
149. Workneh Derese (Ethiopia) - 2:12:43 (Saga Sakura 2023)
159. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya) - 2:14:56 (Kasumigaura 2023)
161. Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya) - 2:15:19 (Tokyo 2022)
200. Patrick Mosin (Kenya) - debut - 59:31 (Lille Half 2023)
201. Yusuke Tamura (Japan) - debut - 1:00:38 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Stefan said…
Tokyo marathon organizers must be over the moon to have Eliud Kipchoge returning and Sifan Hassan coming for the first time. And with the focus on the top Japanese men to grab that 3rd Olympic spot I'm so looking forward to watching this event. I really am interested to see if Kengo Suzuki can recapture his National Record setting form. Really happy to see Rosemary Wanjiru returning to defend her victory from last year. I'm super surprised Hitomi Niiya has decided to attempt to break the new National Record at Tokyo rather than Nagoya. Is the Tokyo marathon course that much faster? Or is it because she can have male pacers? I would have felt Nagoya would have been a better choice as it will be much less crowded. Also if she ran at the Nagoya marathon and broke the record, she would give her brand sponsors much more TV coverage as I'm sure all the focus, as it has been in the past, will be on the men's field in Tokyo. Just rewind 4 years and think of how Mao Ichiyama's run in Nagoya catapulted her to the national spotlight. On top of that, should she do it, if competing at the Olympics is not her ambition, she could still forego her Olympic spot and win many admirers (including Honami Maeda!). Regardless, I wish her luck in Tokyo. It will require a considerable improvement in her recent form and a strong mental attitude. Improbable - yes. Impossible - no.
January 31, 2024 at 4:48 AM
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