2022 Oregon World Championships gold medalist and 2023 Budapest World Championships silver medalist Gotytom Gebreslase leads the elite field for the Mar. 10 Nagoya Women's Marathon, the last chance for Japanese women to steal a place on the Paris Olympics team. The last two years Nagoya has had a $250,000 payout for the winner, the biggest in the sport, but with the exchange rate and Japan's economic situation being what it is that's down to $150,000 this year. That's still enough to pull in a big talent like Gebreslase, the only woman in the field positioned to verrrry hypothetically drag one of the Japanese women to the 2:18:58 they'd need to pick up the 3rd Paris team spot.
Ai Hosoda was 3rd at October's Olympic trials but was bumped down to 1st alternate by Honami Maeda's 2:18:59 NR last month in Osaka. Hosoda, Ayuko Suzuki, Rika Kaseda and Yuka Ando have run under or within seconds of the 2:21:41 they needed before Maeda's run, but 2:18 puts it pretty much out of range without a miracle. That's not to say it's not going to be a good race, with 2023 Asian Games gold medalist Eunice Chumba and sub-2:21 runner Delvine Meringor also up in position to keep it fast, and an exciting debut from sub-67 half marathoner Pauline Kamulu. Suzuki and Ando both come in off good half marathon performances in the last couple of weeks, so there's a good chance either of them could translate that into a big marathon performance. The only question is how big.
Fuji TV will have the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. local time on Mar. 10. Check back closer to race date for more info.
Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field Highlights
Nagoya, Aichi, 10 Mar. 2024
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted
Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) - 2:18:11 (Oregon WC 2022)
Eunice Chebichii Chumba (Bahrain) - 2:20:02 (Seoul 2022)
Delvine Relin Meringor (Romania) - 2:20:49 (Barcelona 2023)
Ai Hosoda (Japan/Edion) - 2:21:42 (London 2022) - withdrawal announced Mar. 1
Ayuko Suzuki (Japan/Japan Post) - 2:21:52 (Nagoya 2023)
Rika Kaseda (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:21:55 (Berlin 2022)
Yuka Ando (Japan/Wacoal) - 2:22:22 (Nagoya 2022)
Violah Cheptoo (Kenya) - 2:22:44 (New York 2021)
Momoko Watanabe (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:23:08 (Osaka 2023)
Giovanna Epis (Italy) - 2:23:46 (Hamburg 2023)
Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 2:25:10 (Nagoya 2022)
Hikari Onishi (Japan/Japan Post) - 2:25:54 (Berlin 2022)
Camille French (New Zealand) - 2:26:08 (Valencia 2023)
Zhixuan Li (China) - 2:26:28 (Nagoya 2023)
Kaori Morita (Japan/Panasonic) - 2:26:31 (Tokyo 2023) - withdrawal announced Mar. 1
Yuri Karasawa (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:27:27 (Osaka 2023)
Honoka Tanaike (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:27:30 (Nagoya 2023)
Sakiho Tsutsui (Japan/Yamada Holdings) - 2:27:38 (Hofu 2023)
Yuyu Xia (China) - 2:28:57 (Beijing 2022)
Kaena Takeyama (Japan/Senko) - 2:29:20 (Osaka Women's 2023)
Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 2:31:10 (Oregon WC 2022)
Yuri Mitsune (Japan/18 Ginko) - 2:31:10 (Nagoya 2023)
Yuki Nakamura (Japan/Panasonic) - debut - 1:46:47 (Ome 30 km 2023)
Pauline Kamulu (Kenya/Route Inn Hotels) - debut - 1:07:22 (Marugame Half 2023) - withdrawal announced Mar. 1
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments