Skip to main content

Olympic Marathoners Tune Up in U.S.


Paris Olympics women's marathon team member Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) ran the Mastercard New York Mini 10k in the U.S.A. this weekend. Running as part of her training, she was 25th in 35:41 in what will be her final race before the Paris Olympics.

Ichiyama finished 8th at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and took 2nd at the Marathon Grand Championship Olympic trials race last Oct. 15 to qualify for her second-straight Olympic marathon. In January she ran 1:12:26 at the Okukuma Road Race half marathon and 1:45:21 to win February's Ome Road Race 30 km.

Also racing in the U.S. this weekend was men's Olympic trials 3rd-placer Suguru Osako (Nike). Running at the Portland Track Festival in Oregon, Osako was 6th in the 10000 m in 28:16.00 in his first track race since last November's Hachioji Long Distance 10000 m.

Doing it as a training run, Osako ran the first half at 66-68' per lap, clocking even splits of 5:40 at 2000 m and 11:20 at 4000 m. He slowed gradually after 6000 m but rallied over the last 1000 m and managed a 62' last lap. Osako was 13th in 2:11:44 at April's Boston Marathon. He continues to prepare for Paris from his base in the U.S.

Also running the Portland Track Festival, Yuto Imae (GMO) was 2nd in 28:12.74. Elsewhere, Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) was 3rd in the Chicago Half Marathon women's race in 1:13:00, with Shun Sadakata (Mazda) 5th in the men's race in 1:03:54.


Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
I watched this race on YouTube and saw a glimse of Mao Ichiyama as she was never with the top runners. That time, even as part of a training run, is not hitting her marathon pace. It's 3:34.37 per km if I'm not mistaken. There is still some time till the Paris Olympics but I'm a bit concerned. In comparison two of the US Paris Olympic qualified marathoners, Dakotah Lindwurm and Emily Sisson ran 31:58 and 32:08 respectively. I read on Instagram Emily Sisson was disappointed with her race. They are both in the middle of their marathon training build. I'm hoping Mao Ichiyama can peak at the right time or is not carrying some sort of injury.
June 10, 2024 at 5:11 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more