Skip to main content

MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Yuka Ando

Yuka Ando

age: 25
sponsor: Wacoal
graduated from: Toyokawa H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:26:47, 13th, 2019 London Marathon

PB: 2:21:36, 2nd, 2017 Nagoya Women’s Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:32.67 (2015) 10000 m: 31:58.71 (2016) half marathon: 1:09:47 (2019)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
13th, 2019 London Marathon, 2:26:47
3rd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:27:37
17th, 2017 London World Championships Marathon, 2:31:31

other major results:
2nd, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:09:47 – PB
1st, 2019 Niigata Half Marathon, 1:10:34
3rd, 2017 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, 1:12:12
10th, 2016 World Half Marathon Championships, 1:10:36

Another star runner from Toyokawa H.S., after graduating Ando bounced around through a series of corporate teams before landing at Suzuki Hamamatsu AC. There she found a coach who encouraged her to run the way that felt natural to her, with her arms almost straight down at her sides. The results spoke for themselves, with Ando dropping a Japan debut marathon record of 2:21:36 at the 2017 Nagoya Women’s Marathon.

Just after that the coach left the team, and after that Ando and training partner Mao Kiyota struggled to regain the same level. Last year she qualified for the MGC Race with a 2:27:37 for 3rd at the Osaka International Women’s Marathon, but near the end of the season she decided she needed another change in environment and transferred to the Wacoal team. In her first marathon in the Wacoal uniform she ran 2:26:47 for 13th at this spring’s London Marathon, still far off her best but a step back in the right direction.

Since then she’s run a 1:09:47 PB for the half marathon at July’s hot and humid Hakodate Half, a promising sign that she’s taken a few more steps. As the fastest woman in the field Ando should be a favorite, but it’s going to take getting back a little closer to her best for her to compete with her junior teammate Mao Ichiyama and the other front-end contenders.

Next profile: Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more