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Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia) - 2:20:50 (Seville 2022) - withdrawn on Jan. 26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
Comments