by Brett Larner
Following the disastrous performance of the Japanese team in the Aug. 17 Beijing Olympics women's marathon, in which defending gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi withdrew from the race with a last-minute injury, alternate Tomo Morimoto had not been entered on the final official team roster, team member Reiko Tosa had training problems and failed to finish the race, and remaining runner Yurika Nakamura finished a disappointing 13th place, the men's team experienced an uncannily parallel serious of upsets in the Aug. 24 Olympic men's marathon.
The bad news began in mid-June when doubts surfaced about team ace Atsushi Sato's fitness following a dismal performance at the Sapporo International Half Marathon and the cancellation of a planned training camp in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Sato relocated to Hokkaido and promptly disappeared from the media until just before the Olympic marathon. At the official press conference he was understated and dark, exuding a lack of confidence.
On Aug. 20, one day before departing for Beijing, marathon team member Satoshi Osaki began to experience pain in his left hip. The pain increased over the following days, and on Aug. 23, the day before the race, Osaki withdrew from the Olympic marathon. It was too late to bring in alternate Arata Fujiwara, but even if there had been more time there would have been no hope for Fujiwara. As with Morimoto on the women's team, Rikuren, the JAAF, had failed to enter Fujiwara's name on the final team roster.
When the marathon began, Sato and third team member Tsuyoshi Ogata started well but were soon left behind by eventual winner Samuel Wanjiru's stunning pace. Sato, who finished less than a minute behind Wanjiru and 4th place finisher Deriba Merga at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon, fell progressively further and further behind and was soon completely off the radar. It seemed likely that he would drop out, but Sato ground on and gutted out a 2:41:08, in 76th place the last man to finish.
Ahead, Ogata ran as low as 27th place before executed the familiar fast-closing plan which earned him a bronze medal at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships and a 5th place finish at last summer's Osaka World Championships. Ogata picked up struggling competitors one by one but couldn't manage to crack the top 10, finishing in the same position as Yurika Nakamura, 13th, in 2:13:26. Shortly after finishing Ogata chatted in Japanese with Wanjiru before heading for the inevitable live television interview.
In his interview Ogata was visibly disappointed. "I expected it to be a fast race," he said, "but not like this. I ran according to plan but it wasn't enough. I didn't know what place I was in but I just kept focusing on catching people." Asked to compare the Olympic experience with his three World Championships marathons, Ogata laughed and said only, "They're completely different." Echoing the sentiments of competitors from other countries, Ogata added a gracious, "Congratulations to Wanjiru. 2:06 here was truly incredible."
After the race an exhausted Sato commented, "I did what I could, but I just wasn't in it today. I need to re-examine what I'm doing and then try again more seriously next time." Ogata and Sato's coach Yasushi Sakaguchi attended the Beijing Olympics closing ceremonies together with Ogata, but Sato was nowhere to be seen.
(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Following the disastrous performance of the Japanese team in the Aug. 17 Beijing Olympics women's marathon, in which defending gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi withdrew from the race with a last-minute injury, alternate Tomo Morimoto had not been entered on the final official team roster, team member Reiko Tosa had training problems and failed to finish the race, and remaining runner Yurika Nakamura finished a disappointing 13th place, the men's team experienced an uncannily parallel serious of upsets in the Aug. 24 Olympic men's marathon.
The bad news began in mid-June when doubts surfaced about team ace Atsushi Sato's fitness following a dismal performance at the Sapporo International Half Marathon and the cancellation of a planned training camp in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Sato relocated to Hokkaido and promptly disappeared from the media until just before the Olympic marathon. At the official press conference he was understated and dark, exuding a lack of confidence.
On Aug. 20, one day before departing for Beijing, marathon team member Satoshi Osaki began to experience pain in his left hip. The pain increased over the following days, and on Aug. 23, the day before the race, Osaki withdrew from the Olympic marathon. It was too late to bring in alternate Arata Fujiwara, but even if there had been more time there would have been no hope for Fujiwara. As with Morimoto on the women's team, Rikuren, the JAAF, had failed to enter Fujiwara's name on the final team roster.
When the marathon began, Sato and third team member Tsuyoshi Ogata started well but were soon left behind by eventual winner Samuel Wanjiru's stunning pace. Sato, who finished less than a minute behind Wanjiru and 4th place finisher Deriba Merga at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon, fell progressively further and further behind and was soon completely off the radar. It seemed likely that he would drop out, but Sato ground on and gutted out a 2:41:08, in 76th place the last man to finish.
Ahead, Ogata ran as low as 27th place before executed the familiar fast-closing plan which earned him a bronze medal at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships and a 5th place finish at last summer's Osaka World Championships. Ogata picked up struggling competitors one by one but couldn't manage to crack the top 10, finishing in the same position as Yurika Nakamura, 13th, in 2:13:26. Shortly after finishing Ogata chatted in Japanese with Wanjiru before heading for the inevitable live television interview.
In his interview Ogata was visibly disappointed. "I expected it to be a fast race," he said, "but not like this. I ran according to plan but it wasn't enough. I didn't know what place I was in but I just kept focusing on catching people." Asked to compare the Olympic experience with his three World Championships marathons, Ogata laughed and said only, "They're completely different." Echoing the sentiments of competitors from other countries, Ogata added a gracious, "Congratulations to Wanjiru. 2:06 here was truly incredible."
After the race an exhausted Sato commented, "I did what I could, but I just wasn't in it today. I need to re-examine what I'm doing and then try again more seriously next time." Ogata and Sato's coach Yasushi Sakaguchi attended the Beijing Olympics closing ceremonies together with Ogata, but Sato was nowhere to be seen.
(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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