Skip to main content

Wanjiru Withdraws From Sapporo Half Marathon

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090701/oth0907012032021-n1.htm

translated by Brett Larner

Beijing Olympics men's marathon gold medalist and half marathon world record holder Samuel Wanjiru (Team Savas) of Kenya has withdrawn from the July 5 Sapporo International Half Marathon, the race's office announced on July 1. Wanjiru, who won April's London Marathon, was to be Sapporo's feature invited athlete but recently told race officials that he is dealing with the affects of accumulated fatigue and cannot race.

Comments

Brett Larner said…
I knew the Wanjiru-Mogusu matchup was too good to be true....
Simon Phillips said…
Disappointing news. Brett, any predictions for the match-up between Mogusu and Sato? What are Fujiwara's chances in this race?

Very much looking forward to the women's race as well.
Brett Larner said…
Well, ordinarily I would say Sato has no chance against Mogusu. He's the Japanese record holder but his best time is still 45 sec or so slower than Mogusu's. This time, though, Mogusu is coming off the car accident in Feb., so it's unclear what kind of shape he's going to be in. Mogusu may be vulnerable but Sato is in marathon training mode and from what he's said in interviews he's focusing on the WC, not the tuneup races he's doing. I guess I don't really see him challenging for the win unless Mogusu is way off.

Fujiwara doesn't have the kind of half time you'd expect from his full marathon, so he would need to have a great day to be up front. I think Yu Mitsuya could be more of a factor if he's uninjured. One thing about Sapporo, though, is that the names which have been announced are only the invited elites. There will be scores of other jitsugyodan runners there, probably including some of the Africans, so some of them might be up there as well.

Agreed that the women's race should be good. Is Shibui back in one piece? We'll see. Curious also to see what Natsuko Goto can do against all the pros.
Brett Larner said…
I forgot to mention Daniel Gitau. So far he's never really been close to Mogusu over this kind of distance, but will all the middle distance track races he did this spring and the quadruple win (800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m) at the Kanto Championships in May he's faster than ever and could be the man.

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31