Skip to main content

Kayoko Fukushi Hangs Them Up


It's the end of an era, really. Two months shy of her 40th birthday, Kayoko Fukushi retired yesterday after running the Osaka Half Marathon. Five of the other legends of Japanese women's long distance, Akemi Masuda, Yuko Arimori, Naoko Takahashi, Masako Chiba and Mizuki Noguchi, were there to celebrate a career spanning national records that have stood for over 20 years, still-standing championship ekiden stage records, possibly the most spectacular elite marathon debut in history, a World Championships marathon medal, and four-straight Olympic appearances. 

For all that success, it always seemed to be there in the background that she wasn't able to break Yoko Shibui's 10000 m NR, and she seemed like a reluctant marathoner, at least until it was too late. In interviews Fukushi was always interesting, dropping in her sharp, dry wit whenever she could, and with any luck we'll be getting more of that in the commentary booth for years to come. Since the start of the super shoe era all her major records have been broken, but a quick look back at those accomplishments shows that Fukushi remains in a class of her own. Feel free to put your favorite memories of Fukushi in the comments.

PBs
3000 m - 8:44.40 (2002, age 20, former NR)
5000 m - 14:53.22 (2005, age 23, former NR)
10000 m - 30:51.81 (2002, age 20)
10 km - 31:57 (2010, age 27)
half-marathon - 1:07:26 (2006, age 23, former NR/AR)
marathon - 2:22:17 (2016, age 33)

National Records
5000 m U20 NR - 15:10.23 (2001, age 19)
10000 m U20 NR - 31:42.05 (2001, age 19)
3000 m U20 NR - 8:52.3 (2001, age 19) - current U20 NR
3000 m NR - 8:44.40 (2002, age 20)
5000 m NR - 15:02.08 (2002, age 20)
5000 m NR - 14:55.21 (2002, age 20)
5000 m NR - 14:55.19 (2002, age 20)
5000 m NR - 14:53.22 (2005, age 23)
half marathon (mixed) NR/AR - 1:07:26 (2006, age 23)
20 km (mixed) NR - 1:03:41 (2006, age 23)
15 km (mixed) NR - 46:55 (2006, age 23) - current NR
5 km (women-only) NR - 15:39 (2006, age 24) - current NR

National Championships
5000 m national champion - 2002, 2004-2007, 2010
10000 m national champion - 2002-2007, 2010

Major Ekidens
27 individual stage wins at major ekidens spanning 2000-2018
8 new individual stage CR at major ekidens
holds CR for National Women's Ekiden 10.0 km anchor stage - 30:52 (2004, age 21)
passed 15 or more people on a single stage twice

Main Marathon Results
3rd, 2011 Chicago Marathon - 2:24:38
1st, 2013 Osaka International Women's Marathon - 2:24:21
bronze, 2013 Moscow World Championships marathon - 2:27:45
1st, 2016 Osaka International Women's Marathon - 2:22:17
14th, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics marathon - 2:29:53
7th, 2019 Marathon Grand Championship Olympic trials - 2:33:29

Asian Games
silver, 2002 Busan Asian Games 10000 m- 30:51.81
silver, 2002 Busan Asian Games 5000 m - 14:55.19
gold, 2006 Doha Asian Games 10000 m - 31:29.38

World Championships
4th, 2000 Santiago de Chile World U20 Championships 5000 m F - 16:25.01
11th, 2003 Paris World Championships 10000 m F - 31:10.57
11th, 2003 Paris World Championships 5000 m H1 - 15:16.53
11th, 2005 Helsinki World Championships10000 m F - 31:39.98
12th, 2005 Helsinki World Championships 5000 m F - 14:59.92
6th, 2006 Fukuoka World Cross Country Championships 8 km - 25:51
6th, 2006 Debrecen World Road Running Championships 20 km - 1:05:32
9th, 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m F - 32:32.85
13th, 2007 Osaka World Championships 5000 m F - 15:19.40
9th, 2009 Berlin World Championships10000 m F - 31:23.49
bronze, 2013 Moscow World Championships marathon - 2:27:45

Olympics
26th, 2004 Athens Olympics 10000 m F - 33:48.66
9th, 2008 Beijing Olympics 10000 m F - 31:01.14
9th, 2008 Beijing Olympics 5000 m H2 - 15:20.46
10th, 2012 London Olympics 10000 m F - 31:10.35
8th, 2012 London Olympics 5000 m H1 - 15:09.31
14th, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics marathon - 2:29:53

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Well, my favorite Fukushi memory is of her being interviewed after a race and asked the inevitable question, What are your next plans? She said, I'm going to see how much beer I can drink.
Also, unlike the typically serious Japanese athlete, she never gave an interview without laughing - a lot. Even after a bad race.
February 1, 2022 at 1:52 PM
Andrew Armiger said…
Fantastic tribute, nothing else to add!
February 7, 2022 at 8:43 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin
Post a Comment
Read more

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi
Post a Comment
Read more

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and
Post a Comment
Read more