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Japan Names Marathon Teams for Tokyo World Championships


On Mar. 26 the JAAF named its women's and men's marathon teams for September's Tokyo World Championships. On the women's side the team has veterans Sayaka Sato and Yuka Ando off the strength of a runner-up finish for Sato in Nagoya this year and a win in Nagoya last year by Ando, and newcomer Kana Kobayashi, 23, who has risen quickly from being a fun runner at Waseda University last year to a 2nd-place finish in Osaka Women's this year. Paris Olympics 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki was named alternate after finishing 3rd behind Kobayashi in Osaka Women's.

On the men's side the team is led by last year's Fukuoka International Marathon CR breaker Yuya Yoshida and this year's Osaka runner-up Ryota Kondo. The 3rd spot on the team is reserved for JMC Series winner Naoki Koyama, who hasn't cleared the 2:06:30 World Championships qualifying standard and has to wait for the May 4 qualifying deadline for confirmation that the 1184 points he has in the Road to Tokyo rankings are enough to get him in. That currently puts him between the 54th and 55th-ranked athletes, so he looks pretty safe, whatever the merits of putting someone who hasn't broken 2:10 in his last two races on the team based on performances in 2023 and early 2024 over the 20 other Japanese men ahead of him in the Road to Tokyo rankings.

In the only moderate surprise, the 2nd Japanese man in Osaka, Kyohei Hosoya, was named alternate over his former Chuo Gakuin University teammate Tsubasa Ichiyama, the top Japanese man in Tokyo. Purely based on numbers Hosoya beat Ichiyama fair and square, 2:05:58 and 4th in Osaka vs. Ichiyama's 2:06:00 and 10th in Tokyo. But Ichiyama ran against a much more competitive field, was faster than Hosoya over the 2nd half of the race, 1:02:44/1:03:16 to Hosoya's 1:02:29/1:03:29, and most importantly ran in hot conditions closer to what it will be like in Tokyo in September than the freezing cold and light snow that Hosoya had in Osaka. It's not hard to see what the JAAF values here.

Women

Sayaka Sato (30, Sekisui Kagaku)
PB: 2:20:59 - 2nd, Nagoya Women's Marathon 2025
Other Races in Qualifying Window
1:09:03 - PB - 11th, Copenhagen Half Marathon 2024
2:24:43 - 5th, Osaka Int'l Women's Marathon 2024

Yuka Ando (31, Shimamura)
PB: 2:21:18 - 1st, Nagoya Women's Marathon 2024
Other Races in Qualifying Window
2:23:37 - 11th, Tokyo Marathon 2025

Kana Kobayashi (23, Otsuka Seiyaku)
PB: 2:21:19 - 2nd, Osaka International Women's Marathon 2025
Other Races in Qualifying Window
2:24:59 - 1st, Hofu Yomiuri Marathon 2024
15:45.68 - PB - Nittai Time Trials, 2024
32:22.98 - PB - Nat'l Corporate Championships 10000 m, 2024
1:14:00 - PB - Hakodate Half Marathon 2024
2:29:44 - 12th, Osaka Int'l Women's Marathon 2024

Yuka Suzuki (25, Daiichi Seimei) - alternate
PB: 2:21:33 - 3rd, Osaka Int'l Women's Marathon 2025
Other Races in Qualifying Window
2:24:02 - 6th, Paris Olympics 2024


Men

Yuya Yoshida (27, GMO)
PB: 2:05:16 - 1st, Fukuoka Int'l Marathon 2024
Other Races in Qualifying Window
27:45.85 - PB - HDC Abashiri Meet 10000 m, 2024
13:30.91 - PB - Nittai Time Trials 5000 m, 2024
2:06:37 - 4th, Osaka Marathon 2024

Ryota Kondo (25, Mitsubishi Juko)
PB: 2:05:39 - 2nd, Osaka Marathon 2025
Other Races in Qualifying Window
13:42.08 - PB - HDC Shibetsu Meet 5000 m, 2024

Naoki Koyama (28, Honda) - provisional
PB: 2:06:33 - 3rd, Osaka Marathon 2024
Other Races in Qualifying Window
2:10:13 - 35th, Osaka Marathon 2025
2:10:33 - 23rd, Paris Olympics 2024

Kyohei Hosoya (29, Kurosaki Harima) - alternate
PB: 2:05:58 - 4th, Osaka Marathon 2025
Other Races in Qualifying Window
1:00:43 - PB - Nat'l Corporate Half Marathon 2025
2:07:20 - 6th, Chicago Marathon 2024
2:06:55 - 12th, Tokyo Marathon 2024
2:07:23 - 4th, Fukuoka Int'l Marathon 2023

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

Anonymous said…
While the selections of Yoshida and Kondo are understandable the Naoki Koyama one is the result of a process that could (should) perhaps be different.

Like you guys state in the article he has the accumulated points, yes but the recent results and peak performances just aren't there.

Plus, I feel like selection for the national teams should focus on many different parametres. Like you say how guys run in hot/cold weather, how the course is, form, racing ability.
One could just look at Akasaki running in Paris together with Koyama and how different they were.

It's nothing against Koyama, he does his thing and maybe he surprises us all but my opinion there were a few different routes they could have gone and could end up with a better result.
Even having a youngster trying the experience would have been perhaps better in perspective.
Just my 2 cents
March 28, 2025 at 1:53 AM
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