Osaka International Women's Marathon Elite Field

The Osaka International Women's Marathon's 45th running is less than 2 weeks away on Jan. 25. Sub-2:20 trio Workenesh Edesa, Stella Chesang and Bedatu Hirpa make up the international component of the race, with veterans Mizuki Matsuda and Mao Uesugi the only ones close to them on paper, Matsuda with a 2:20:42 in Berlin 2 years ago and Uesugi 2:22:11 in Nagoya last year.

Bringing the most upside to the race is Mizuki Nishimura, the next big thing from the Tenmaya corporate team that NR holder Honami Maeda calls home. Nishimura set a 1:41:42 CR at the Kumanichi 30 km last February, then tested the waters with a 2:25:54 debut for the win at the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon at the beginning of December. It's a quick turnaround since then, but chances are pretty good that she'll be the one to watch for the home crowd.

There's also an interesting debut in the works from Mikuni Yada, a track runner who won bronze at last summer's Asian Championships with a 31:12.21 PB and has yet to run even a half marathon. Yada runs for the Edion corporate team that produced Ai Hosoda, 2:20:31 ahead of Matsuda in Berlin 2024 and 6th in Sydney last year, so even though it's a bit of a surprise to see Yada make the jump like this her coaching staff has the marathon credentials to back it.

Fuji TV has the official broadcast starting at 12:00 local time on the 25th, with streaming on TVer. Live 5 km splits and results will be here.

45th Osaka International Women's Marathon

Elite Field Highlights

25 Jan. 2026

complete field listing

times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Workenesh Edesa (Ethiopia) - 2:17:55 (Hamburg 2025)

Stella Chesang (Uganda) - 2:18:26 (Valencia 2024)

Bedatu Hirpa (Ethiopia) - 2:18:27 (Dubai 2025)

Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 2:20:42 (Berlin 2024)

Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) - 2:22:11 (Nagoya 2025)

Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) - 2:25:54 (Hofu 2025)

Chiharu Suzuki (Hitachi) - 2:25:59 (Osaka Int'l 2023)

Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:26:50 (Osaka Int'l 2024)

Sakiho Tsutsui (Univ. Ent.) - 2:26:51 (Rotterdam 2024)

Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:28:28 (Osaka Int'l 2024)

Nanaka Izawa (Starts) - 2:29:28 (Osaka Int'l 2025)

Debut

Miu Yagi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:30 (Osaka Half 2025)

Amisa Murayama (Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 1:15:24 (Matsue Half 2024)

Mikuni Yada (Edion) - 31:12.21 (2025 Asian Championships 10000 m)

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Summary of Japanese Medalists at Asian Athletics Championships

Overall: gold: 4 silver: 6 bronze: 10 Men: gold: 1 silver: 3 bronze: 4 Women: gold: 3 silver: 3 bronze: 6 20th Asian Athletics Championships Pune, India, July 3-7, 2013 click here for complete results Men's 200 m Final +0.7 m/s 1. Xie Zhenye (China) - 20.87 2. Fahad Mohammed Alsubaie (Saudi Arabia) - 20.912 3. Kei Takase (Japan) - 20.918 Men's 400 m Final 1. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia) - 45.08 2. Ali Khamis (Bahrain) - 45.65 3. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 45.95 Men's 110 m Hurdles Final +0.1 m/s 1. Jiang Fan (China) - 13.61 2. Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) - 13.78 3. Wataru Yazawa (Japan) - 13.88 Men's 400 m Hurdles Final 1. Yasuhiro Fueki (Japan) - 49.86 2. Cheng Wen (China) - 50.07 3. Satinder Singh (India) - 50.35 Men's 3000 m SC 1. Tarek Mubarak Taher (Bahrain) - 8:34.77 2. Dejene Regassa Mootoma (Bahrain) - 8:37.40 3. Tsuyoshi Takeda (Japan) - 8...

Hakone Champ AGU's 4th Runner Kyosuke Hiramatsu Reveals He Suffers from Rare Disorder

On Jan. 8 Aoyama Gakuin University held a victory celebration at the school's Aoyama Campus in Shibuya, Tokyo for its win at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden, the 9th win for AGU in the last 12 years and its second threepeat. AGU's 4th runner at Hakone, Kyosuke Hiramatsu (3rd yr.) took 3rd on his leg and set up Day One anchor Asahi Kuroda (4th yr.) to run down the leader on the uphill Fifth Stage and take the Day One win. At the celebration he revealed that he had been suffering from a rare disorder, acquired idiopathic generalized anhidrosis. This disorder, which the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimates to afflict only 100 to 200 people nationwide, primarily men aged 10 to 30, impairs the function of sweat glands throughout the body. As a result those affected have difficulty regulating body temperature and are highly susceptible to heatstroke. The cause is unknown and no established treatment exists, but according to the National Intractable Disease Information Center ...

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