The Osaka Marathon is only 2 1/2 weeks away but it's taken until now for it to announce its elite fields. Last year's Milan Marathon winner Vivian Kiplagat is the clear favorite in the women's race, but beyond her there's a pretty even group of 7 at the 2:23~2:25 level including Ethiopian duo Beyenu Degefa and Helen Bekele, Australian Lisa Weightman, and Otsuka Seiyaku teammates Ikumi Fukura and Rie Kawauchi, Given the current version of Osaka's history as the descendent of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, this field is a pretty good step toward parity.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
But the men's race is still a lot bigger and higher-level. Ethiopians Hailemaryam Kiros and Abayneh Degu lead a group of 7 internationals at the 2:04~2:06 level. Toshiki Sadakata and Shuho Dairokuno come in just below that as the top-ranked Japanese men in a group of 11 at the 2:07 level. One of the key names in there is Yuma Hattori, winner of Fukuoka in 2018 in 2:07:27 but still struggling to make a comeback after suffering heat stroke at the Tokyo Olympics marathon. There's also a good group of debuting sub-61 half marathoners. 2021 National Corporate Half Marathon champ Patrick Mathenge Wambui and two-time Hakone Ekiden 1st Leg winner Kazuya Nishiyama are the biggest names there, Nishiyama a teammate of Hattori's at both Toyo University and now at Toyota.
The clock's ticking on qualification for October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, and on that front Osaka should make some news. Maybe not in the women's race, where both Fukura and Kawauchi have already qualified and the other 3 sub-2:30 women would all need to beat both of them and run a sub-2:28 PB to make it. But the men's race should see a lot of additions to the 48 already qualified. 6 of the qualifiers are entered, making it tougher for the rest of the domestic field to hit the auto-qualifying standards of a top 3 JPN placing sub-2:10 or top 6 JPN sub-2:09. 2:07 men Dairokuno, Hattori, Tadashi Isshiki and Masaki Sakuda are the main contenders, with both Nishiyama and the debuting Yohei Ikeda also in the ring on paper. At lot of people who could also complete the two-race sub-2:10 qualifying option in Osaka, and anyone who misses or runs a good one without auto-qualifying will still be able to turn around and try again in April or May. Expect the list of qualifiers to grow.
NHK will be broadcasting Osaka live. Check back closer to race day for more info on following live.
Osaka Marathon
Elite Field Highlights
Osaka, 26 Feb. 2023
complete field listing
Women
Vivian Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:20:18 (1st, Milan 2022)
Beyenu Degefa (Ethiopia) - 2:23:04 (3rd, Valencia 2021)
Helen Bekele Tola (Ethiopia) - 2:23:05 (3rd, Berlin 2021)
Lisa Weightman (Australia) - 2:24:00 (15th, Berlin 2022)
Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea (Ethiopia) - 2:24:52 (3rd, Mumbai 2023)
Ikumi Fukura (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:25:15 (7th, Nagoya 2022)
Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:25:35 (7th, Osaka Women's 2022)
Bornes Chepkirui (Kenya) - 2:25:37 (11th, Valencia 2021)
Soud Kanbouchia (Morocco) - 2:27:35 (3rd, Munich 2022)
Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Yamaguchi) - 2:28:51 (16th, Osaka Women's 2020)
Misaki Nishida (Edion) - 2:28:51 (17th, Osaka Women's 2020)
Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) - 2:29:20 (12th, Tokyo 2022)
Men
Hailemaryam Kiros (Ethiopia) - 2:04:41 (2nd, Paris 2021)
Abayneh Degu (Ethiopia) - 2:04:53 (5th, Paris 2021)
Victor Kiplangat (Uganda) - 2:05:09 (4th, Hamburg 2022)
Moses Kibet (Kenya) - 2:05:20 (6th, Amsterdam 2021)
Alphonse Felix Simbu (Tanzania) - 2:06:20 (3rd, Milan 2022)
Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) - 2:06:25 (6th, Seville 2022)
Merhawi Kesete (Eritrea) - 2:06:36 (10th, Amsterdam 2021)
Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:07:05 (10th, Tokyo 2020)
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 2:07:12 (6th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Togami Denki) - 2:07:18 (7th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Eyob Ghebrehiwet Faniel (Italy) - 2:07:19 (7th, Seville 2020)
Yuma Hattori (Toyota) - 2:07:27 (1st, Fukuoka Int'l 2018)
Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:07:27 (13th, Tokyo 2020)
Yuki Kawauchi (ASDS) - 2:07:27 (10th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) - 2:07:38 (2nd, Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Tadashi Isshiki (GMO) - 2:07:39 (15th, Tokyo 2020)
Masaki Sakuda (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:07:42 (14th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Joseph Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 2:07:53 (1st, Lake Biwa 2018)
Natsuki Terada (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:08:03 (3rd, Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) - 2:08:05 (2nd, Lake Biwa 2020)
Daisuke Doi (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:08:13 (21st, Lake Biwa 2021)
Bayelign Teshager (Ethiopia) - 2:08:28 (1st, Los Angeles 2020)
Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:08:29 (1st, Hofu 2022)
Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 2:08:31 (16th, Tokyo 2022)
Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:08:35 (25th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Yuta Koyama (Toenec) - 2:08:46 (26th, Lake Biwa 2021)
Debut/Do-Over
Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Kenya/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:00:12 (1st, Nat'l Corp. Half 2021)
Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:00:41 (5th, Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)
Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Kenya/NTN) - 1:00:58 (1st, Tachikawa 2022)
Yohei Ikeda (Kao) - 1:00:59 (14th, Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)
Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 1:01:18 (24th, Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)
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