Skip to main content

Federation Announces Men's World Championships Marathon Team

by Brett Larner

On Mar. 31 after a delay following the Mar. 11 disasters, Rikuren, the Japanese athletics federation, announced the lineup for the men's marathon team for August's World Championships in Daegu, Korea. The team is a strong one, inexperienced but fresh, with 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN) and the 3rd and 4th place finishers from both the 2011 Tokyo Marathon and 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.), Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota), Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) and Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki). All but Kitaoka hold PBs under 2:10 set this year. No alternate was officially named.

Also formally confirmed for the women's team was defending World Championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) who secured a place by winning the 2011 Yokohama International Women's Marathon in a course record 2:23:56. The remaining four women will be named following next month's Boston Marathon, with the leading current contenders being, in order, 2011 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), 2011 Yokohama runner-up Remi Nakazato (Team Daihatsu) and 2011 Osaka runner-up Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku).

2011 World Championships Men's Marathon Team

Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei)
Born: Oct. 28, 1986 (24 yrs.)
PB: 2:09:25 - 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 3rd
Other main results:
2:11:47 - 2008 Tokyo Marathon, 9th


Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.)
Born: Mar. 5, 1987 (24 yrs.)
PB: 2:08:37 - 2011 Tokyo Marathon, 3rd
Other main results:
2:12:36 - 2010 Tokyo Marathon, 4th



Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN)
Born: Nov. 2, 1982 (28 yrs.)
PB: 2:10:51 - 2010 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 4th
Other main results:
2:12:46 - 2010 Asian Games Marathon, 2nd
2009 World Half Marathon Championships - 21st
2008 World Half Marathon Championships - 32nd

Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki)
Born: Dec. 7, 1982 (28 yrs.)
PB: 2:09:31 - 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 4th
Other main results:
2:11:42 - 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, 8th
2:13:53 - 2009 Tokyo Marathon, 9th
2:13:54 - 2008 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon, 3rd
2:15:21 - 2008 Hokkaido Marathon, 2nd

Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota)
Born: Dec. 5, 1980 (30 yrs.)
PB: 2:09:03 - 2011 Tokyo Marathon, 4th (Japanese debut marathon all-time #3)
Other main results:
2009 World Half Marathon Championships - 28th
2004 World Half Marathon Championships - 16th

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...