Skip to main content

Tokyo Paralympics Marathon Course to Remain Unchanged and In Tokyo


A few weeks ago the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games marathons were abruptly moved to Sapporo on a whim by the IOC. The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games marathon, however, will still be held in Tokyo as scheduled on Sept. 6, the final day of the Games. With runners faced by a variety of physical challenges all competing for gold, the Paralympic marathon can be enjoyed from courseside just as much as the one at the Olympics.

The Tokyo Paralympics marathon course is identical to that originally planned for the Olympics. Both the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics had multi-lap circuit courses, but this time the course will offer a wide-ranging tour of all Tokyo's major landmarks. Starting at the new Olympic Stadium, the course passes near Sensoji Temple, Tokyo Station, Kabukiza Theater, Tokyo Tower and the Imperial Palace before returning for a finish back inside the Olympic Stadium. Organizing Committee official Koji Murofushi commented, "It's a dynamic course unlike any other ever used for a Paralympic marathon."

To alleviate heat issues, the race will start at 6:30 a.m. Competitors with different physical challenges will all be on the course at the same time, but with different start times. Male and female wheelchair athletes will start first, followed by athletes with upper limb disabilities, with visually-impaired athletes last. After a slight initial climb, the course goes downhill from around 3 km to 6 km. After that the course is nearly flat until athletes return up the same hill from 37 to 40 km.

Given the course, in the case of the wheelchair races it is possible that an athlete who is heavier and has good downhill technique may get an early lead. Top athletes can hit 50 km on a downhill like the one on this course. A number of sharp corners and the three turnaround points on the course where athletes will need to slow down and then accelerate are likely to be key strategic points, with the biggest challenge for the wheelchair racers coming on the hard push up the hill to 40 km. For visually-impaired athletes one of the keys to their success is the words of encouragement and motivation given to them by their guide runners.

source article:
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO53110300Z01C19A2UP1000/
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more

16 Women and 26 Men on the Current Olympic Trials Qualifier List

Last weekend's Nagoya Women's Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon the weekend before brought the main part of the first year of qualification for the Marathon Grand Championship Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials to be held in Nagoya in October, 2027, to an end. There are still a few races like the Nagano Marathon and overseas World Athletics platinum label races this season where people might qualify, but for the most part we're not likely to see many new additions until August's Hokkaido Marathon, where the qualifying period opened last year. As of right now 16 women and 26 men have qualified, although the first woman to make the cut, Ai Hosoda , announced that she was retiring after Tokyo earlier this month. Out of the 16 women to have qualified so far, Mikuni Yada is the fastest with her 2:19:57 debut at Osaka Women's in January. Including Hosoda that makes 2 qualifiers for the Edion corporate team, but Daihatsu has the biggest share of the field so ...
Post a Comment
Read more