The Nagoya Women’s Marathon was the last qualifying race for the women’s marathon for the Paris Olympics, and 29-year-old Yuka Ando won with a new personal best time of 2 hours, 21 minutes, and 18 seconds.
However, Honan Maeda did not break the Japanese record, which was a condition for her to be selected as a representative, and Maeda was selected to be on the marathon Olympic team for the second consecutive marathon.
This year’s Nagoya Women’s Marathon was held as a selection race to compete for the final spot on the women’s marathon team at the Paris Olympics, and was faster than Maeda’s 2 hours and 18 minutes at the Osaka International Women’s Marathon in January this year. The condition for being selected for the national team was to finish under 59 seconds and rank among the top Japanese athletes.
The race consisted of Ando, who has the 8th fastest time in Japan’s history, Ayuko Suzuki, who represented the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, and Rika Kaseda, a 25-year-old representative from last year’s world championships, who formed the lead group with overseas athletes, and the Japanese raced in the early stages. I progressed at a pace approaching a record.
After 25 km, Suzuki was separated from the leading group, and immediately after that, Ando and Kaseda gradually fell behind the overseas competitors.
Ando picked up his pace at the 33km climb and took the top spot among the Japanese riders, and continued to run tenaciously, tying up with the leading Bahraini rider at the 39km mark.
Ando took the lead in the last spurt after 41 km, finishing in 2 hours, 21 minutes, and 18 seconds, beating his personal best by 18 seconds, and taking victory.
However, since he fell short of the Japanese record, Maeda was selected to represent the marathon at the Olympic Games for the second time in a row.
In 2nd place was a player from Bahrain, and in 3rd place was Suzuki, who moved up the rankings with a tenacious run in the final stages, with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes 33 seconds, the 9th place in Japan’s all-time best, and Kaseda, who finished 4th place. It was rank.
Yuka Ando is a 29-year-old from Gifu Prefecture.
He has a unique form in which he lowers his arms and does little arm swing, and his characteristic is that he uses his speed to aggressively advance the race from the first half.
A graduate of Aichi’s Toyokawa High School, a strong track and field athlete, he contributed to winning the National High School Ekiden twice.
After that, she moved on to the corporate team and gained attention by setting a Japanese record for her first marathon at the 2017 Nagoya Women’s Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes, and 36 seconds.
At the Tokyo Olympics, he competed in the 10,000 meters and placed 22nd.
Last October, I finished in 9th place at the MGC (Marathon Grand Championship), a selection race for the marathon representative.
Looking ahead to this final selection race, he said, “I want to run the race to the fullest so that when I cross the finish line, I feel like I can’t give it any more.”
3rd Place: Ayuko Suzuki: “I was able to run to the end thanks to the support from the roadside.”
Ayuko Suzuki, a native of Aichi prefecture who rose through the ranks in the final stages with a tenacious run, said, “I’m disappointed that I didn’t reach my goal because I lacked the strength, but I did what I had to do, so I’m glad I was able to take on the challenge.” I am filled with gratitude to everyone who supported me.”
Looking back on the race, he said, “I was separated from the runners in front of me in the middle, and I was filled with frustration.Because of the support, I was able to keep my spirits up and run to the end.”He expressed his gratitude for the support from the people along the route. was doing.
Who is Honan Maeda, who has been appointed as the representative?
Honan Maeda, who has been selected to represent the marathon Olympic team for the second consecutive marathon, is a 27-year-old from Hyogo Prefecture.
At the Osaka International Women’s Marathon in January this year, she broke the Japanese record for the first time in 19 years with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes 59 seconds.
She graduated from Osaka Kunuei Girls’ Academy, a strong relay racer, and was a reserve in high school, unable to achieve outstanding results, but after graduating, she joined a corporate team and improved her skills.
He is known for his stamina and competitive strength, which are backed up by extensive training, and he won the 2019 MGC, which was the last qualifying race for the Tokyo Olympics, and became the representative for the Tokyo Olympics.
At her first Olympics in Tokyo, she fell behind in the middle of the competition and finished 33rd.
At her second MGC, which was aimed at the Paris Games, she showed some aggressive moves in the middle, but stalled at the end and finished in 7th place.She will be competing in the Osaka International Women’s Marathon in January this year, aiming to participate in the Olympics for the second time in a row. I participated.
In that race, just past the halfway point, she aggressively moved ahead of her pacemaker and pulled the race forward, breaking the Japanese record set by Mizuki Noguchi, the gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, for the first time in 19 years.
2024-03-10 04:34:39
#Yuka #Ando #wins #womens #marathon #Hominami #Maeda #selected #represent #Olympic #team #NHK #Sports
