Skip to main content

Kenyan Marathoner Erupe Gains South Korean Citizenship, But Not in Time for Tokyo Olympics



On Aug. 1, Sina Sports reported that Kenyan marathoner Wilson Loyanae Erupe has been granted his long-sought after transfer of nationality to South Korea. Former South Korean national marathon coach Chang Seok Oh, who now represents Erupe, made the announcement of Erupe's acquisition of South Korean citizenship on July 31. Erupe, 29, has been based in South Korea since June, 2015. His application for South Korean citizenship in April, 2016 was rejected, but after two years he has now successfully completed the naturalization process.

Erupe's best time of 2:05:13 was set at the March, 2016 Seoul International Marathon, far beyond the current South Korean national record of 2:07:20. It is to be expected that Erupe will serve as a catalyzing agent in the long-stagnant South Korean men's marathon scene, but according to the provisions laid out by the IAAF board of directors last week, "Naturalized athletes may not compete as a national team member for 3 years." As a result of this provision Erupe would not be eligible to compete for South Korea at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Erupe is expected to make his debut as a "Korean" at the Oct. 21 Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea.

Translator's note: Erupe previously served a two-year suspension after testing positive for EPO, which he blamed on medicine he had taken for malaria. His suspension was cited in the previous failure of his application for citizenship. More background on this story here and here.

source article:
https://www.recordchina.co.jp/b630412-s0-c50-d0135.html
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Metts said…
I guess not really surprised by this. Korean marathoners, it seems sometimes, are extinct, although I think the latest ranking puts them 7th or 8th overall in the world. But with that said... not many below 2:15 these days. Just re-read an article/interview with Lee Bong-Ju. He claims that Korean marathoners today, don't have the mental toughness that is needed, like he did, and he says they don't want to put in the miles/kilometers needed to develop the toughness. So maybe, as with all countries, its easier to buy talent than develop talent. I'm glad Japan is what it is, in terms of marathon running.
August 6, 2018 at 11:14 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

GMO Wins First National Title at Era-Changing 2026 New Year Ekiden

Things have really been coming up fast the last year or so in Japanese distance running, but even so this year's New Year Ekiden really felt like the era has changed. GMO took the lead on the second of the race's 7 legs and went on to take over 2 minutes off the overall course record for the 100.0 km course, winning its first national title in 4:44:00. En route 6 of the 7 legs had new CR, a lot of them with multiple people breaking them, and the only leg that didn't, the 12.3 km First Stage, saw Shunpei Tomita of Logisteed run 34:23, only 7 seconds off the CR held by sub-27 Kenyan Martin Mathathi . The level at the collegiate Hakone Ekiden keeps going up up up , and that showed here as 3 of the new stage CR were set by guys in their first season in the corporate leagues who were some of the biggest stars at Hakone last year. Aoyama Gakuin University grad Aoi Ota sneaked in 1 second ahead of Toyota 's Jin Yuasa to set a 46:00 CR on the 15.9 km Fifth Stage. Collegi...
1 comment
Read more