Last weekend's Tokyo Marathon sealed up the Japanese men's Paris Olympics marathon team lineup when top Japanese man Yusuke Nishiyama came 41 seconds short of the 2:05:50 he needed to take the spot away from marathon trials 3rd-placer Suguru Osako. Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon officially closes the window for Japanese women, but really it was pretty much slammed shut by Honami Maeda with her 2:18:59 national record in Osaka at the end of January. That was almost 3 minutes faster than what she needed to take trial 3rd-placer Ai Hosoda's place in Paris. Is there any chance anyone lining up in Nagoya could run 2:18:58 or better? There are some good people on the list, but basically no.
Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia has run faster than that with a 2:18:11 for gold at the 2022 Oregon World Championships, but she's the only one. Eunice Chumba and Delvine Meringor are both at the 2:20 level, and out of the top tier of Japanese women Ayuko Suzuki and Rika Kaseda both have recent 2:21 performances, Yuka Ando a 2:22, and Momoko Watanabe a 2:23. Suzuki and Ando both have good half marathons this season, Suzuki with a 1:08:51 in Marugame and Ando a 1:08:18 a week earlier in Osaka, and Watanabe trains with Maeda. But it's a big jump to go from having to target 2:21:40 to 2:18:58, and even though weather conditions look as good as in Tokyo and pacing is bound to be as good as it usually is in Nagoya, there's just not much chance anyone can land it.
Which isn't to say it isn't going to be a good race. If everyone really goes it for and puts everything on the line it could be a classic. And there are a lot of internationals further down the field for which Nagoya will have a big part in their Olympic hopes, like Italian Giovanna Epis, Australia's Eloise Wellings, Kiwi Camille French, Chinese duo Zhixuan Li and Yuyu Xia, and Puerto Rican Beverley Ramos. Fuji TV has the broadcast starting at 9:00 local time, with streaming on TVer and Locipo if you're using a VPN. Live results will be here, and we'll cover it on @JRNLive.
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)
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)
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)
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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