Shimoda Qualifies for Paris Olympic Trials at Ottawa Marathon

Three Japanese athletes ran Sunday's Tartan Ottawa International Marathon in an effort to score qualifying marks for the 2023 MGC Race, Japan's marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the men's race, Yuta Shimoda (GMO) and Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) went with the leaders all the way until eventual winner Andualem Shiferaw (Ethiopia) made his move before 30 km. Shiferaw, the favorite with a best of 2:05:52, was stellar over the second half, going 1:03:52 / 1:02:12 to set a new course record 2:06:04 for the win.

When Shiferaw attacked, Oishi, coached by 2010 Ottawa winner Arata Fujiwara, immediately dropped off, ultimately finishing 8th in 2:15:50. Shimoda, who ran 2:08:35 at March's Tokyo Marathon and needed to run 2:11:25 here to qualify for the trials, hung on to 3rd, overtaken by Abdi Ali Gelchu (Bahrain) and dropping to 4th at one point but running down Leonard Langat (Kenya) just before the finish to retake 3rd.

Yamaguchi went out in a pack of 6 women that ignored early leaders Juliet Chekwel (Uganda) and Rebecca Chesire (Kenya), both of whom eventually dropped out. By halfway that group was down to just Yamaguchi and Kinsey Middleton (Canada), but when Middleton surged on the climb across a bridge near 25 km Yamaguchi lost touch. Middleton went on to win in 2:30:09, but Yamaguchi struggled to keep it together and faded to 5th in 2:35:57.

In his victory interview Shiferaw said through an interpreter, "With the exception of the inconvenience caused by the visa application process, everything was great after I arrived here in Ottawa." This year's elite race was hard-hit by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's new online visa application system, which resulted in at least 12 men and 13 women from Mongolia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Bahrain not receiving their visas or visa-containing passports back from the IRCC in time to travel for the race.

Malcolm Anderson, head of the Moyo Sports agency, said 5 people from his group, 3 athletes and 2 pacers, had been affected. "The passports were in the Addis processing centre with visas approved, but we could not get them to be released in time for travel," Anderson said. "Immensely frustrating for all." Only 8 African athletes in the two races, not including pacers, did get their visas in time for the race. Elite athlete coordinator Dylan Wykes had assembled what would have been the strongest elite fields ever on Canadian soil to run in the nation's capital, but despite gladly taking nearly $200 per athlete in application and processing fees the IRCC apparently had other priorities than letting that happen.

2022 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon

Ottawa, Canada, 29 May 2022

complete results

Men

1. Andualem Shiferaw (Ethiopia) - 2:06:04 - CR

2. Abdi Ali Gelchu (Bahrain) - 2:09:24

3. Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:09:50

4. Leonard Langat (Kenya) - 2:09:56

5. Teshome Mekonen (Ethiopia) - 2:13:27 - debut

6. Justin Kent (Canada) - 2:13:34

7. Albert Kangogo (Kenya) - 2:13:57

8. Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) - 2:15:50

9. John Mastandrea (U.S.A.) - 2:17:28

10. Ben Kendell (U.S.A.) - 2:18:28

Women

1. Kinsey Middleton (Canada) - 2:30:09

2. Elissa Legault (Canada) - 2:33:27

3. Katja Goldring (U.S.A.) - 2:33:58

4. Anne-Marie Blaney (U.S.A.) - 2:34:38

5. Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:35:57

6. Dayna Pidhoresky (Canada) - 2:36:22

7. Lanni Marchant (Canada) - 2:39:42

8. Megan O'Neil( U.S.A.) - 2:39:55

9. Isabel Vazquez (Mexico) - 2:43:54

10. Chirine Njeim (Lebanon) - 2:46:08

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...

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...

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...

japan running news

Search This Blog