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JAAF Announces Changes to Lineup for World Half Marathon Championships Team

The JAAF has announced a few changes to the lineup for Japan's team for the rescheduled World Half Marathon Championships Oct. 17 in Gdynia, Poland. Gone but not forgotten are men's Olympic marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu), 1:01:40 at January's Takanezawa Half, and second-tier women's team members Rui Aoyama (Universal Entertainment) and Toshika Tamura (Hitachi).

In their places are track star Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin), 1:01:06 in Marugame this February, and marathon heavy hitters Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) and Yuka Ando (Wacoal) with half marathon bests of 1:09:08 and 1:09:38, both from last December's Sanyo Ladies Half. Overall it's a step up in quality for the Japanese team if the World Half happens as planned.

World Half Marathon Championships Japanese Team

Gdynia, Poland, 10/17/20
complete listing
times listed are best in last three years except where noted

Men
Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) - 1:00:06 (Marugame 2020)
Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:00:49 (National Corp. Half 2020)
Jun Nobuto (Mazda) 1:00:56 (National Corp. Half 2020)
Takahiro Nakamura (Kyocera Kagoshima) - 1:00:57 (National Corp. Half 2020)
Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:01:06 (Marugame 2020)

Women
Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 1:09:08 (Sanyo 2019)
Kaena Takeyama (Daihatsu) - 1:09:12 (National Corp. Half 2020)
Sara Miyake (Tenmaya) - 1:09:23 (Sanyo 2019)
Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 1:09:38 (Sanyo 2019)
Ayumi Hagiwara (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:10:16 (National Corp. Half 2019)

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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