Skip to main content

Osaka Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon Elite Fields (updated)


The Jan. 28 Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon organizers announced the elite fields for both races today. The marathon is all about whether a Japanese woman can run 2:21:41 to steal the third spot on the Paris Olympic team from Ai Hosoda, the 3rd-placer at October's MGC Olympic marathon trials. Only one Japanese woman in the field has done that, Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) with a 2:20:52 in Osaka International two years ago, and to help her try to get there organizers have pulled in Workenesh Edesa (Ethiopia), 2:18:51 in Berlin 2022, Stella Chesang (Uganda), 2:20:23 in Hamburg this past spring, and Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia), 2:20:50 in Seville 2022.

2021 Tokyo Olympian Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) is probably Matsuda's strongest domestic competition at 2:22:32 earlier this year in Nagoya, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) more distantly in range. But with Nagoya coming in March with others in pursuit of the third Olympic spot there too, anyone who does it in Osaka will have to run a monster time to survive to the final cut.

Run simultaneously with the marathon, the Osaka Half Marathon keeps growing into one of the major spring half marathons alongside Marugame and the National Corporate Half. Yuka Ando (Wacoal) is the favorite on paper at 1:08:13 at the 2022 National Corporate Half and is almost definitely Nagoya-bound, but since the Olympic trials she hasn't run well. Her strongest competition is Ethiopian Desta Burka (Denso), 1:09:31 in Sanyo 2021.

The men's race is massive, with 20 entrants under 62 minutes since 2021. Hiroto Hayashida (Mitsubishi Juko) is the class of the field with a 1:00:38 at the 2022 National Corporate Half that puts him 41 seconds ahead of his strongest competitor Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko).

2024 Osaka International Women's Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
28 January 2024
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Workenesh Edesa (Ethiopia) - 2:18:51 (Berlin 2022)
Stella Chesang (Uganda) - 2:20:23 (Hamburg 2023)
Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia) - 2:20:50 (Seville 2022) - withdrawn on Jan. 26
Mizuki Matsuda (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:20:52 (Osaka Int'l 2022)
Sayaka Sato (Japan/Sekisui Kagaku) - 2:22:13 (Berlin 2022)
Honami Maeda (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:22:32 (Nagoya 2023)
Natsumi Matsushita (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:23:05 (Osaka Int'l 2022)
Rie Kawauchi (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:25:35 (Osaka Int'l 2022)
Katharina Steinruck (Germany) - 2:25:59 (Enschede 2021)
Yuna Daito (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:26:09 (Osaka Int'l 2023)
Ayano Ikemitsu (Japan/Kagoshima Ginko) - 2:28:26 (Osaka Int'l 2021)
Daeun Jeong (Korea) - 2:28:32 (Seoul 2023)
Kaena Takeyama (Japan/Senko) - 2:29:20 (Osaka Int'l 2023)
Militsa Mircheva (Bulgaria) - 2:29:23 (Copenhagen 2022)
Nanami Aoki (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:30:01 (Osaka 2023)
Miku Hirashima (Japan/Uniqlo) - 2:30:49 (Osaka 2023)

Debut
Hina Yanagitani (Japan/Wacoal) - 1:10:11 (Osaka Half 2023) - withdrawn on Jan. 26
Hikaru Kitagawa (Japan/Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 1:10:50 (Nat'l Univ. Half 2023)

2024 Osaka Half Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
28 January 2024
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Women
Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 1:08:13 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Desta Burka (Ethiopia/Denso) - 1:09:31 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 1:10:21 (Osaka Half 2022) - withdrawn
Momoko Watanabe (Tenmaya) - 1:10:43 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:11:02 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Yukari Abe (Kyocera) - 1:11:05 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:11:18 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2022)
Sairi Maeda (Daihatsu) - 2:25:24 (Osaka Int'l Women's Marathon 2023) - withdrawn

Men
Hiroto Hayashida (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:00:38 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:19 (National Corporate Half 2023) - withdrawn
Wataru Tochigi (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:01:21 (National Corporate Half 2021)
Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:22 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:23 (Osaka Half 2022) - withdrawn
Akira Tomiyasu (Nisan Kogyo) - 1:01:23 (Osaka Half 2022)
Hiroki Abe (Sumitomo Denko) - 1:01:26 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Tatsuya Oike (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:28 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:01:30 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Ryu Takaku (Yakult) - 1:01:39 (Marugame Half 2023)
Koki Yoshioka (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:01:40 (Osaka Half 2023)
Simon Musio Saidamu (Kenya/Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:01:43 (Gifu Seiryu Half 2023) - withdrawn
Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:45 (Osaka Half 2022)
Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) - 1:01:46 (Osaka Half 2022)
Tatsuya Sumide (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:46 (Osaka Half 2022)
Eikichi Kazaoka (JFE Steel) - 1:01:51 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Ryota Natori (Konica Minolta) - 1:01:55 (Osaka Half 2023)
Hiroyuki Ishikawa (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:01:55 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:58 (Gifu Seiryu Half 2023)
Daisuke Higuchi (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:01:59 (National Corporate Half 2022) - withdrawn
Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 1:02:00 (Osaka Half 2023)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu - 1:02:37 (Ageo City Half 2023)
Minho Park (Korea) - 2:10:13 (Seoul Marathon 2023)

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...

2023 Champion Kamimura Gakuen Girls Ready for Sunday's National High School Ekiden

Ahead of the Dec. 22 National High School Ekiden in Kyoto, the 2023 national champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. girls held an open practice session for the media. 2023 was Kamimura Gakuen's only 2nd national title ever. Can it make it two in a row? The Kamimura Gakuen girls won the Nov. 2 Kagoshima Prefecture High School Ekiden, its 9th-straight win and 31st victory overall in the prefectural qualifying race for Nationals. 3rd on her stage at Nationals last year as part of the winning team, Hina Ogura summed up this year's lineup. "There's no really dominant star runner this year, but each person is aware of their position on the team and working together to share in everyone playing leading roles." Sakine Noguchi ran the Second Stage at Nationals last year. "I think we've improved our stamina," she said, "so I hope that we can get the best possible results and all finish with a smile." Handling the First Stage last year, Rin Setoguchi said,...

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...