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2-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Yuko Arimori Named First Female Director of JAAF

On June 25 the JAAF announced that director Mitsuki Ogata is stepping down and will be replaced by vice-chair Yuko Arimori. A two-time Olympic marathon medalist, Arimori will be both the first woman and first Olympian to lead the JAAF.

Arimori was born in 1966 in Okayama. In 1985 she graduated from Shujitsu H.S. and entered Nittai University. After graduating in 1989 she joined the Recruit corporate team under the leadership of head coach Yoshio Koide. In January, 1990 she ran 2:32:51 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon, at the time a debut marathon national record. The next year she placed 4th at the Tokyo World Championships, then took the silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Four years later Arimori followed that up with a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She retired from competition in 2007.

After retiring, Arimori became active in a wide range of area, including as chair of Special Olympics Japan, a sports organization for intellectually-challenged people. In 2021 she was named JAAF vice-chair, and in 2023 she became a member of the World Athletics executive committee.

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translated by Brett Larner
photo © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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