Skip to main content

Olympic Marathoners Tune Up in U.S.


Paris Olympics women's marathon team member Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) ran the Mastercard New York Mini 10k in the U.S.A. this weekend. Running as part of her training, she was 25th in 35:41 in what will be her final race before the Paris Olympics.

Ichiyama finished 8th at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and took 2nd at the Marathon Grand Championship Olympic trials race last Oct. 15 to qualify for her second-straight Olympic marathon. In January she ran 1:12:26 at the Okukuma Road Race half marathon and 1:45:21 to win February's Ome Road Race 30 km.

Also racing in the U.S. this weekend was men's Olympic trials 3rd-placer Suguru Osako (Nike). Running at the Portland Track Festival in Oregon, Osako was 6th in the 10000 m in 28:16.00 in his first track race since last November's Hachioji Long Distance 10000 m.

Doing it as a training run, Osako ran the first half at 66-68' per lap, clocking even splits of 5:40 at 2000 m and 11:20 at 4000 m. He slowed gradually after 6000 m but rallied over the last 1000 m and managed a 62' last lap. Osako was 13th in 2:11:44 at April's Boston Marathon. He continues to prepare for Paris from his base in the U.S.

Also running the Portland Track Festival, Yuto Imae (GMO) was 2nd in 28:12.74. Elsewhere, Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) was 3rd in the Chicago Half Marathon women's race in 1:13:00, with Shun Sadakata (Mazda) 5th in the men's race in 1:03:54.


Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
I watched this race on YouTube and saw a glimse of Mao Ichiyama as she was never with the top runners. That time, even as part of a training run, is not hitting her marathon pace. It's 3:34.37 per km if I'm not mistaken. There is still some time till the Paris Olympics but I'm a bit concerned. In comparison two of the US Paris Olympic qualified marathoners, Dakotah Lindwurm and Emily Sisson ran 31:58 and 32:08 respectively. I read on Instagram Emily Sisson was disappointed with her race. They are both in the middle of their marathon training build. I'm hoping Mao Ichiyama can peak at the right time or is not carrying some sort of injury.
June 10, 2024 at 5:11 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
81 comments
Read more