Japanese Olympic Distance Running Preview - Women`s 10000 m

by Brett Larner

Women`s 10000 m

Yoko Shibui
Born: Oct. 27, 1978, Tochigi Prefecture
Team Affiliation: Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo
Olympic Event PB: 30:48.89, 2002 – NR
Season Highlights:
-National Champion, 10000m: 31:15.07 (personal 2nd-best), 6/27/08
-4th place, Nat’l T&F Championships 5000m: 15:19.29 (personal 2nd-best), 6/29/08
-Meet Record, East Japan Pro T&F Championships 10000m: 31:21.92 (personal 4th-best), 5/17/08
-Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000m: 31:19.73 (personal 3rd-best), 4/27/08
Career Highlights:
-NR, 10000m: 30:48.89, 2002
-Former WR, debut marathon: 2:23:11, 2001
-Former NR, marathon: 2:19:41, 2004
-National Champion, 10000m, 2008
-Winner, 2004 Berlin marathon and 2001 Osaka Int’l Women`s Marathon
-Winner, Cardinal Invitational 10000m, 2002
-World T&F Championships 10000m, 2003
-World T&F Championships Marathon, 2001
-World XC Championships, 1998
-3rd place, Chicago Marathon, 2002

10000m national record holder Yoko Shibui has followed a strange and beautiful career trajectory. She set her national record of 30:48.89 in 2002 in the midst of a string of successes in her early attempts at the marathon, successes which included setting a then-national record of 2:19:41 in the full marathon. At the same time she experienced these successes, she began to demonstrate an inability to perform in championship events, failing to win any national titles or make any Olympic teams and only rarely making World Championships teams.

Her performances in the marathon became increasingly erratic, finally tanking with the 2007 Tokyo International Women`s Marathon in which she contended with Mizuki Noguchi for a spot on the Beijing Olympics marathon team, a historic race which saw two of Japan`s sub-2:20 woman battle each other for the first time. After a strong first half, Shibui failed badly in the last quarter of the race, recording a personal worst of 2:34:19. Shibui rushed from the stadium after the finish, her coach issuing a statement that there was ‘no chance’ she would attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the 10000m. Reflecting on her failed Tokyo race gave Shibui insight into herself and she returned to training with fresh hunger.

In the spring of 2008 prior to the National Championships she recorded her 2nd and 3rd best-ever times in the 10000m. After leading most of the National Championships 10000m, Shibui was able to overcome challenges from rivals Kayoko Fukushi and Yukiko Akaba, barely outsprinting Akaba to take her first national title in a new personal 2nd best time of 31:15.07. Shibui afterwards seemed like a new person. In Beijing it will be a challenge for her to finish in the medals, but team tactics with Akaba and Fukushi to ensure a fast early pace could put her into contention for a bronze medal.

Yukiko Akaba
Born: Oct. 18, 1979, Tochigi Prefecture
Team Affiliation: Hokuren
Olympic Event PBs: 5000m; 15:06.07, 7/13/08; 10000m: 31:15.34, 6/27/08
Season Highlights:
-Hokuren Distance Challenge 5000m, all-time Japanese 3rd best: 15:06.07, 7/13/08
-Nat’l T&F Championships 10000m, 2nd place and all-time Japanese 4th best: 31:15.34, 6/27/08
-Nat’l T&F Championships 5000m, 2nd place: 15:13.96, 6/29/08
-Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000m: 31:36.54, 4/27/08
-Nat’l Pro Half Marathon Champion, new CR and all-time Japanese 3rd best: 1:08:11, 3/16/08
Career Highlights:
-Nat’l Pro Half Marathon Champion with new CR, 2008
-2nd place, Nat’l T&F Championships 5000m and 10000m, 2008
-Nat’l University Champion, 5000m, 1999

-2nd place, Universiad Half Marathon, 1999

Akaba`s relatively recent profile fails to fully illustrate her long history. A standout collegiate runner during her days at Josai University, Akaba went on to be a garden variety professional runner in the Japanese jitsugyodan corporate running environment. In Aug., 2006 at age 27 she gave birth to her daughter, Yuna, an event which would normally spell the end of a career. Instead Akaba made a dramatic return in the fall of 2007, swiftly clocking a streak of PB performances which turned many heads. In the spring of 2008 she continued her rise, breaking Mizuki Noguchi`s course record at the Jitsugyodan Half Marathon Championships, finishing in the top two in both the 5000m and 10000m at the National Championships, and entering the all-time top four Japanese performances in the 5000m, 10000m and half marathon. She now stands as one of the very best Japanese distance running women and commands a great amount of respect in Japan for her cast-iron discipline in training and racing.

Akaba will probably choose to focus on the 10000m in Beijing. A scenario in which she pushes the pace from the stages, either alone or together with teammate Yoko Shibui, is quite possible. If such a strategy came into play Akaba could have a chance for the bronze medal.

Kayoko Fukushi
Born: Mar. 25, 1982, Aomori Prefecture
Team Affiliation: Wacoal
Olympic Event PBs: 5000m: 14:53.22, 2005 – NR; 10000m: 30:51.81, 2002
Season Highlights:
-10th place, Rome Golden Gala Meet 5000m: 15:19.74, 7/11/08
-3rd place, Nat’l T&F Championships 5000m: 15:16.27, 6/29/08
-3rd place, Nat’l T&F Championships 10000m: 31:18.79, 6/27/08
-19th place, Osaka In’l Women`s Marathon: 2:40:54, 1/27/08
Career Highlights:
-WR, 15 km (road): 46:55, 2006
-NR, Half Marathon: 1:07:26, 2006
-NR, 5000m: 14:53.22, 2005

-NR, 3000m: 8:44.40, 2002
-Former NR, 5000m: 14:55.19, 2002 (broke NR 3 times in 2002 incl. first Japanese sub-15:00)
-JrR, 10000m: 31:42.05, 2001
-JrR, 5000m: 15:10.23, 2001
-JrR, 3000m: 8:52.30, 2001
-Asian Champion, 10000m, 2006
-National Champion, 10000m, 2002-2007
-National Champion, 5000m, 2002, 2004-2007
-Athens Olympics 10000m, 2004
-World T&F Championships 5000m and 10000m, 2003, 2005, 2007
-World Road Race Championships, 2006
-World XC Championships, 2002, 2006
-World Junior T&F Championships, 2000

Kayoko Fukushi could easily be called the greatest female Japanese distance runner to appear thus far. The national record holder at 3000m, 5000m and half marathon, she has since high school dominated Japanese distance running at distances shorter than the marathon. Japan having as it does a major focus on the marathon, Fukushi was under intense pressure for the last few years to move up in distance, particularly after she broke Mizuki Noguchi`s national record in her debut half marathon. Fukushi finally relented, running the Osaka International Women`s Marathon in Jan., 2008 in an apparent attempt to make the Beijing Olympics in the marathon. After running alone at near sub-2:20 pace through the first half of the race Fukushi executed arguably the greatest marathon crash and burn the world has ever seen from an elite runner, finishing in 2:40:54 after falling repeatedly and cutting her face.

After Osaka Fukushi suffered leg injuries which kept her from serious training until late May. She ran the National Championships 5000m and 10000m on only a month of training, finishing 3rd in each to end her streak of national titles in both events. She subsequently ran poorly in Europe, calling into question whether she will be in serious condition for the Beijing Olympics. The sometimes bizarre race tactics she uses, such as those in the National Championships 10000m and at the 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000m, and the strangely blasé persona she employs in interviews make her even more unpredictable. She may well attempt to front run the 10000m as she did in the World Championships, but in her recent condition she lacks the finishing power necessary to secure a medal.

© 2008 Brett Larner
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