On Dec. 15 the management of the Juhachi Shinwa Ginko women's corporate team announced that 2018 Asian Games marathon silver medalist Keiko Nogami, 35, will retire next month. Her final race will be the Jan. 24 Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden. After retiring she plans to return to her family home in Hyogo. Her plans beyond that have not yet been settled.
Nogami struggled with injuries ever since her time at Hyogo's Suma Gakuen H.S. Suma Gakuen won the National High School Ekiden her senior year, but she was only an alternate and did not run. After graduating she joined the Sanix corporate team, which disbanded a short time later. She ran her debut marathon at age 29, set her PBs of 15:24.70 for 5000 m, 32:07.70 for 10000 m and 2:26:33 for the marathon in 2018 at age 32, and her half marathon PB of 1:09:27 in 2019 at age 33.
Nogami had an injury to her left shin about three months before the MGC Race Olympic marathon trials in September, 2019. Although she fell behind in the early stages of the race, she pushed on to take 5th, just missing out on a place on the Tokyo Olympic team as alternate. Finding it increasingly difficult to compete at the international level, this fall Nogami made the decision to retire, sending her hopes on to the next generation for their success.
"I had a lot of injury problems, especially when I was young, and it was a long and painful road," Nogami commented. "But I was able to make it this far thanks to the support of all those around me. All of it has helped me grow as a person. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. Please keep up your support of the Juhachi Shinwa Ginko team."
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translated and edited by Brett Larner
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