Skip to main content

JAAF Announces Marathon Teams for London World Championships

by Brett Larner

In a livestreamed press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 17 the JAAF announced the women's and men's marathon teams for this summer's London World Championships.  With four selection races each for the three spots on the women's and men's teams the JAAF went with the best balance they could have achieved between quality and fairness.

Making the grade on the women's team were Nagoya Women's Marathon 2nd and 3rd-placers Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya), all three with PBs under 2:24.  Osaka runner-up Misato Horie (Team Noritz) was named alternate.

On the men's side, the team consists of Fukuoka International Marathon 3rd-placer Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Tokyo Marathon 8th-placer Hiroto Inoue (Team MHPS).  All three have broken 2:09.  10th in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Team Konica Minolta) was chosen as alternate.

Detailed profiles of all eight athletes:

Women

Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC)
Age: 23
PB: 2:21:36 (2nd, 2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 2nd, 2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon, 2:21:36
  • 4th, 2016 Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri 10000 m, 31:58.71
  • 10th, 2016 Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships, 1:10:34
  • 1st, 2016 National Women's Ekiden 1st Stage (6.0 km), 19:19
  • 4th, 2015 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:51


Risa Shigetomo (Tenmaya)
Age: 29
PB: 2:23:23 (1st, 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon)
Qualifying Time: 2:24:22 (1st, 2017 Osaka International Women's Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 1st, 2017 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2:24:22
  • 14th, 2015 Beijing World Championships Marathon, 2:32:37
  • 2nd, 2015 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2:26:39
  • 76th, 2012 London Olympics Marathon, 2:40:06
  • 1st, 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2:23:23


Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC)
Age: 23
PB: 2:23:47 (3rd, 2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 3rd, 2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon, 2:23:47
  • 5th, 2016 Valencia Half Marathon, 1:11:07
  • 4th, 2016 Nagoya Women's Marathon, 2:24:32
  • 8th, 2015 Valencia Half Marathon, 1:10:31
  • 2nd, 2015 Marugame International Half Marathon, 1:10:59


Alternate: Misato Horie (Noritz)
Age: 30
PB: 2:25:44 (2nd, 2017 Osaka International Women's Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 2nd, 2017 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2:25:44
  • 11th, 2016 Usti nad Labem Half Marathon, 1:14:05
  • 1st, 2016 Gold Coast Airport Marathon, 2:26:40 - CR
  • 2nd, 2016 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2:28:20
  • 1st, 2014 Shibetsu Half Marathon, 1:14:37


Men

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't)
Age: 30
PB: 2:08:14 (4th, 2013 Seoul International Marathon)
Qualifying Time: 2:09:11 (3rd, 2016 Fukuoka International Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 1st, 2017 Ehime Marathon, 2:09:54 - CR
  • 3rd, 2016 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:09:11
  • 2nd, 2016 Gold Coast Airport Marathon, 2:09:01
  • 1st, 2016 Okinoshima Ultra 50 km, 2:44:07 - NR
  • 1st, 2016 Zurich Marathon, 2:12:04


Hiroto Inoue (MHPS)
Age: 24
PB: 2:08:22 (8th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 8th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:08:22
  • 9th, 2016 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 2:12:56
  • 1st, 2014 Kanto Region University Half Marathon Championships, 1:04:07
  • 36th, 2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon Championships, 1:02:25
  • 3rd, 2014 Marugame International Half Marathon, 1:01:39


Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki)
Age: 34
PB: 2:08:35 (2nd, 2013 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon)
Qualifying Time: 2:09:32 (1st, 2017 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 1st, 2017 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, 2:09:32
  • 5th, 2013 Moscow World Championships Marathon, 2:10:50
  • 2nd, 2013 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, 2:08:35
  • 6th, 2012 London Olympics Marathon, 2:11:16
  • 4th, 2012 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 2:08:53


Alternate: Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta)
Age: 31
PB: 2:09:12 (10th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon)

Career Highlights:
  • 10th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:09:12
  • 4th, 2016 New York City Marathon, 2:11:49
  • 1st 2016 New Year Ekiden 5th Stage (15.8 km), 46:58
  • 3rd, 2014 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, 2:11:48
  • 28th, 2013 Marugame International Half Marathon, 1:02:43

© 2017 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Kakaroto said…
I like Yuta Shitara, young promise future in marathon!!!!

Most-Read This Week

On the Loss of the ARRS Database

At some point in the last few months I discovered that both versions of the ARRS database, the static one and the searchable version , are gone. Last week David Monti posted a link to the ARRS history of an event he covered in Race Results Weekly, I guess copying and pasting a link from last year without looking at it, and that reminded me to write something about the loss of the database. The Association of Road Racing Statisticians was basically a one-man show operated from the remote Northern California shores by Ken Young . When the site existed its intro read: The Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyses and publishes results and statistics regarding elite distance running at distances 3000m and longer...The data of ARRS is stored in the ARRS database, which has more than 1.3 million performances from more than 240,000 races by more than 95,000 elite and sub-elite distance runners worldwide...This website ...

Asian Games Competition Schedule

The daily athletics event schedule for September's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games . Wednesday, Sept. 23 7:30 - Women's / Men's Half Marathon Race Walk Final Thursday, Sept. 24 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon 100 mH 10:20 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Heats 10:30 - Men's Triple Jump Heats 10:40 - Women's Heptathlon High Jump 19:05 - Men's High Jump Heats 19:13 - Women's Heptathlon Shot Put 19:33 - Women's 100 m Heats 19:44 - Women's Triple Jump Final 20:08 - Men's 100 m Heats 20:55 - Men's Discus Throw Final 21:00 - Women's Heptathlon 200 m 21:25 - Women's 10000 m Final 22:15 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Final Friday, Sept. 25 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon Long Jump 10:30 - Men's 400 m Heats 11:25 - Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw 19:05 - Women's Shot Put Final 19:13 - Women's 100 m Semifinal 19:33 - Men's 100 m Semifinal 20:03 - Women's Pole Vault Final 20:11 - Women's Heptathlon 800 m 20:32 - Men's 10000 m Final 20:40 - M...

Multiple National Records This Weekend

Olympic and World champion Haruka Kitaguchi got the biggest headlines among Japanese athletes this weekend, overcoming a rough last year and a half that included injury and a coaching change to break her own javelin throw NR by over a meter and a half to win the inaugural WA Ultimate Championship in Budapest. U20 WR and Asian AR holder Ziyi Yan opened with a big 68.05, 0.67 m further than Kitaguchi's best-ever from back in 2023. That could have been the end, but Kitaguchi came back from a 61.15 m first attempt to throw a massive 68.92 m NR on her next one, ultimately enough for the win. She still has a long way to go to match the 18-year-old Yan's 71.74 m from May, but it was a clear statement that Kitaguchi is back. Back home at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Kyoto, women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota continued a solid comeback season of her own, bettering her NR from May by 1 cm with a 4.51 m on her first attempt. Morota took another 3...