Hattori and Suzuki Scratch From Ome 30 km

The organizers of the Ome 30 km Road Race announced on Feb. 10 that both of its feature invited elite athletes Yuma Hattori (Toyota) and Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) have scratched from the Feb. 17 race.

Hattori won December's Fukuoka International Marathon in a strong 2:07:27 to position himself as a leading candidate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and its trials event, September's MGC Race. He is reportedly not feeling well currently. In the organizers' statement he commented, "I'm simply not in the best condition to run Ome, and thinking about the future I've decided not to do it. I'm very sorry to disappoint everyone who was looking forward to Ome. I will do everything I can to be on the starting line of the MGC Race in perfect condition and ask for your continued support."

Suzuki ran an all-time Japanese #3 time of 1:07:55 at the Feb. 3 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon, demonstrating the potential to make the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. At the moment she is experiencing some discomfort in the plantar of her right foot. Her comments in the organizers' statement read, "My right foot has been bothering me a bit since before Marugame. I did my best to be ready for Ome, but looking further ahead to the MGC Race in September I've had to make the really disappointing decision not to run it."

source article:
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190210-00477427-nksports-spo
translated by Brett Larner

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