Skip to main content

'Assefa Smashes World Marathon Record in Berlin with 2:11:53, Kipchoge Achieves Record Fifth Win'

https://worldathletics.org/news/report/tigst-assefa-world-marathon-record-berlin-kipchoge-2023

Japanese half marathon national record holders Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) and Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) both ran the Berlin Marathon. Ogura finished 51st in 2:17:39 a few steps ahead of women's runner-up Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, with Niiya 11th in 2:23:08. Although Niiya’s run was billed as an attempt at the 2:19:12 national record, she was never on NR pace and slowed continuously after 10 km. Complete results.

Comments

Stefan said…
I was confident Niiya would break the National record on the back of her strong debut effort at the Tokyo marathon last year and her very fast Houston marathon earlier this year. Given the excellent training camp, the favourable weather conditions on the day, the use of the new Adidas 'super' shoe, her confidence and especially considering she decided not to take part in the MGC race I expected her to break the National Record. It is a shame she didn't and fell off the pace so early. It is a disappointing outcome and it highlights the ever widening gap between the best in the world and one of the best in Japan. I now eagerly look forward to the MGC race on Oct 15 and hope for the same excitement we had 4 years ago!
Brett Larner said…
Never a safe bet to use words like "confident" and "expect" to describe someone's chances of breaking a record, let alone one set by an Olympic gold medalist who was one of the most accomplished half-marathoners in history.

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .