Skip to main content

Fujiwara's Goal in Fukuoka: "Defeat Kawauchi"

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2012/11/10/0005516153.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

London Olympics men's marathoner Arata Fujiwara (31, Miki House) revealed Nov. 9 that his primary motivation in running the Dec. 2 Fukuoka International Marathon is to defeat civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (25, Saitama Pref.).

Appearing at an event in Tokyo commemorating the Tokyo Marathon's entry into the World Marathon Majors, Fujiwara was asked about his reasons for running Fukuoka.  He answered, "Once the Olympics were finished and I had to think about what would motivate me next, I thought a showdown with him would be the most fun."

After Fujiwara's Olympics ended with a 45th-place finish as the last Japanese man on the team, this season it's time for another swing at the younger "upstart."  With four wins in seven marathons so far this year, Kawauchi is a golden target.  His stated goal for Fukuoka is the 2:07:59 qualifying time for the 2013 World Championships marathon team.

Fujiwara also indicated that he will probably be going for a fast time in February's Tokyo Marathon.  "In my training for Fukuoka right now I'm focusing on faster turnover," he said.  His eyes narrowing with intensity, he added,  "There's no problem with recovery time for Tokyo.  If Tokyo goes well I'll run 2:04~2:05."

Translator's note: Fujiwara had the fastest Japanese men's time of 2010 and currently leads 2012, while Kawauchi was the fastest Japanese man of 2011.  In their head-to-head marathons so far Fujiwara leads Kawauchi 2-1.

2012 Tokyo Marathon: Fujiwara: 2:07:48, 2nd     Kawauchi: 2:12:51, 14th
2011 Tokyo Marathon: Kawauchi: 2:08:37, 3rd     Fujiwara: 2:29:51, 57th
2010 Tokyo Marathon: Fujiwara: 2:12:34, 2nd     Kawauchi: 2:12:36, 4th
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...
1 comment
Read more

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