Skip to main content

Rio Olympics Marathoner Fukushi Pulls Out of Sunday's Hakodate Half With Foot Pain, Coach Denies Stress Fracture (updated)

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASJ6Q3JD3J6QKTQ2006.html

translated by Brett Larner

On June 22 the organizers of the June 26 Hakodate Half Marathon announced that Rio Olympics women's marathon team member Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) has pulled out of Sunday's race due to pain in her right foot.  After returning mid-month from a training camp in the U.S.A. Fukushi went to the hospital to undergo examination before making the decision to withdraw.

The details are not clear, but there is a possibility of a stress fracture and the team has opted to take it seriously.  Wacoal head coach Tadayuki Nagayama was cautious looking toward August's main event, commenting, "We really have to watch our step here, but training will continue."  He indicated that Fukushi plans to race abroad in July as a tuneup for Rio.

Update:

http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/general/2016/06/22/0009212045.shtml

In response to reports that Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon team member Kayoko Fukushi (34, Team Wacoal) may have sustained a stress fracture, Wacoal head coach Tadayuki Nagayama, 56, denied the news, telling the press, "It is not broken."  He said that she has some inflammation of the fourth metatarsal in her right foot that led them to pull out of the June 26 Hakodate Half Marathon, that there is no fracture, that they are making necessary adjustments to her training and continuing to prepare for the Olympics.

Regarding Fukushi's condition coach Nagayama said, "She can train, but it's possible some problems may surface during the Olympics.  She can really take a lot of pain, so if we overdo it now there's a potential danger [of a stress fracture], yes.  Rest is critical to a quick recovery."

According to coach Nagayama, Fukushi's right foot started to hurt around the time of the May 15 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, but she continued with her training after that.  This month she underwent two medical examinations at her training base in the U.S. and after returning to Japan on the 18th, but although inflammation of the fourth metatarsal on her right foot was found neither examination discovered a stress fracture.

Currently Fukushi is doing 20-30 km training runs.  "The goal is August 14, so we can't take unnecessary risks now," Nagayama said of the decision to pull out of Hakodate.  She will not race again before Rio, stepping onto the biggest stage with no dry run, but, said coach Nagayama, "She's doing race pace in training, so we'll see how she looks during practice."  Emphasizing that there was no problem, he said, "Although there are some changes to the pace of her workouts in the 50 days left [until the Olympic marathon] we don't plan any major changes.  We'll proceed with preparations at that pace.  As long as she doesn't fall during the race I think she'll be fine."

Comments

Wiliam said…
Wow! It sounds that this race is pretty exciting. I like...

Most-Read This Week

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...