Skip to main content

Quotes From the Fukuoka International Marathon Pre-Race Press Conference

Video interviews with Samuel Wanjiru, Toshinari Takaoka, Atsushi Fujita, Shigeru Aburaya and Atsushi Fujita are available at:

http://www.kbc.co.jp/sports/f-marathon2007/

Click on each line of text in the central box to the right of the five pictures to see the videos. Japanese language only. A separate text article:

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2007113000760

translated by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner

The invited elite runners for Sunday`s Olympic qualifying Fukuoka International Marathon gathered on Nov. 30 for the event`s pre-race press conference. Some quotes from the conference:

"I am going for a 2:06. I am quite confident about it." -Samuel Wanjiru, 1/2 marathon world record holder and marathon debutant

"When I lost four years ago at the selection race for Athens I thought I wouldn`t have another one. I am happy to be here to have a chance to compete." -Toshinari Takaoka, Japanese national marathon record holder

"I have good karma in Fukuoka [having marked a Japanese record here seven years ago]. I will try not to get too nervous and just race as usual." -Atsushi Fujita, course record holder

"I haven`t scored a good result since Athens. I want a good result this time." -Shigeru Aburaya, fifth place finisher in Athens Olympics, 2001 and 2003 World Championships

"I want to know what I can do among these strong runners. I am looking forward to it." -Atsushi Sato, Japanese national 1/2 marathon record holder

IAAF preview of Fukuoka
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keita Sato on Training with OAC, Breaking NR in the USA, and the Road Ahead

Translator's note: Over his 2nd year at four-time national champion Komazawa University , 1500 m, 3000 m, indoor 3000 m and 5000 m U20 NR holder Keita Sato spent a total of three months training with OAC with support from JRN, one week in Boulder last spring, three weeks in St. Moritz during the summer, and the last two months back in Boulder. During that time he ran the equivalent of a 27:57 road 10 km and 59:22 half marathon in ekidens and U20 Asian area best 27:28.50 for 10000 m, all at age 19, and since turning 20 in January an indoor 5000 m NR of 13:09.45, an indoor 3000 m NR of 7:42.56, and an Asian area best 8:14.71 for 2 miles indoor. This interview by journalist Tatsuo Terada took place in late February before The TEN, where Sato ran 27:34.66. Komazawa University 2nd-year Keita Sato had a great indoor track season. On January 26 in Boston just after his 20th birthday he ran a 13:09.45 indoor 5000 m national record, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese man behind o...
1 comment
Read more

Restaurant Owner Selected as Olympic Torchbearer Dies in Fire After Becoming Despondent Over Impact of Coronavirus Crisis (updated)

On the evening of Apr. 30, the 54-year-old male owner of a restaurant in Tokyo's Nerima ward specializing in tonkatsu deep fried pork cutlets died from full-body burns in a fire at the restaurant. The man had been one of the people chosen as a torchbearer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics torch relay. With the coronavirus crisis causing both the postponement of the Olympics and a loss of business at the restaurant, the man had recently started talking pessimistically about the future to those around him. With evidence of the man's body having been doused in tonkatsu cooking oil, metropolitan police from the Hikarigaoka Police Station are carefully examining the cause of the fire. At around 10:00 p.m. on the 30th, the fire broke out in the tonkatsu restaurant on the first floor of a three-story building. A neighborhood resident who noticed smoke called the fire department. Firefighters found the floor and part of a wall burning, with the man lying on the floor in the customer seat...
Post a Comment
Read more