Sutume Kebede and Tadese Takele win in Tokyo (© AFP / Getty Images)
Only two men and two women in history have won the Tokyo Marathon more than once. Defending champions Sutume Asefa Kebede and Tadese Takele will attempt to join that select group when they return to the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday (1).
Following their victories in the Japanese capital last year, they returned to Tokyo later in 2025 for the World Championships marathon, where neither produced the performances they had hoped for. Now back on familiar roads, the Ethiopian pair will aim to make amends against fields packed with major marathon winners, global medallists and a former world record-holder.
The women’s field assembles the winners of the past four editions, and between them they hold the four fastest winning performances in race history. Four athletes sit inside the top seven in the current world rankings, while five members of the field feature among the top 15 performers on the world all-time list.
Defending champion Kebede has dominated recent editions of the race, winning in both 2024 and 2025. She set a course record of 2:15:55 in 2024 and followed it with 2:16:31 the following year. Currently ranked fifth in the world, Kebede returns for her first marathon since finishing 27th at the World Championships in Tokyo and will be eager to return to winning ways.
Former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei returns seeking a second Tokyo title. The 2021 Olympic silver medallist still ranks fifth on the world all-time list thanks to her 2:14:04 performance – a world record at the time – from 2019. She showed strong form last year by winning in Shanghai in 2:16:36 – her fastest marathon since her Tokyo victory in 2022 – and now bids to become just the third woman to win the race twice.
World No.4 Hawi Feysa arrives in outstanding form following victory at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, where she set a PB of 2:14:57. Despite contesting only five marathons so far, she already sits seventh on the world all-time list and ranks as the second-fastest Ethiopian woman in history. She finished third in Tokyo last year so will be hoping to go at least one better.
Rosemary Wanjiru, the 2023 Tokyo champion, finished runner-up in 2024 in a PB of 2:16:14 before placing fifth last year and later claiming victory at the Berlin Marathon.
Another strong contender is Megertu Alemu, a multiple podium finisher at both the London and Chicago Marathons. She set her PB of 2:16:34 when finishing fourth in London in 2024 before winning the Valencia Marathon later that year. After finishing second in Chicago in October 2025, she recorded DNFs in Shenzhen and Xiamen, so she’ll be hoping for better fortunes when making her Tokyo debut this weekend.
Rising Ethiopian Bertukan Welde aims to continue an impressive upward trajectory. After winning the Prague Marathon in 2:20:55, she improved to 2:17:56 when finishing second in Amsterdam and opened her 2026 season with victory at the Montferland Half Marathon. Tokyo will be just the fourth marathon of her career.
Other notable entrants include Ethiopian duo Mestawut Fikir and Mekides Shimeles, Japan’s Ai Hosoda, marathon debutante Grace Loibach Nawowuna of Kenya, and USA’s Sara Hall.
Defending champion Tadese Takele headlines a men’s field loaded with depth and experience. The former steeplechase specialist, who earned African silver in that event in 2022, has made a seamless transition to the marathon in recent years. He clocked 2:03:24 on his debut at the distance to finish third in Berlin in 2023 before improving to 2:03:23 in his Tokyo victory last year.
The 23-year-old, who has only completed three marathons so far, returns to Tokyo seeking redemption after recording a DNF at the World Championships last year.
Timothy Kiplagat is the fastest entrant on paper with a PB of 2:02:55, set when finishing second in Tokyo in 2024 in the race that produced the course record of 2:02:16. His most recent outing was a 12th-place finish at the Chicago Marathon last October, while his most recent marathon victory came in Dubai in 2022.
The field also includes Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao, winner of the 2024 London Marathon and third in London in 2025. He set his PB of 2:03:11 when finishing second in Valencia in 2023 and late last year he narrowly missed out on victory at the 2025 New York City Marathon.
Milkesa Mengesha, winner of the 2024 Berlin Marathon in a PB of 2:03:17, also lines up after claiming victory at the Shanghai Marathon late last year. The Ethiopian is currently fourth in the world rankings, making him the highest-ranked contender of the entries.
Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich, third in Tokyo for the past two years, owns a PB of 2:03:13 set when finishing runner-up in Berlin in 2023. Fellow Kenyan Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba finished sixth in Tokyo last year in his first completed marathon before going on to win in Amsterdam in a PB of 2:03:30.
Other Ethiopian contenders include two athletes who are transitioning to the roads having previously won global titles on the track.
Selemon Barega, who’ll be returning to the city where he won the 2021 Olympic 10,000m title, won the Seville Marathon in 2:05:15 on his debut at the distance in 2025, while two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris ran 2:05:59 to finish fifth in Boston last year in his marathon debut.
Former Chicago Marathon winner Seifu Tura brings a PB of 2:04:29, while Chalu Deso Gelmisa, the 2023 Tokyo champion, returns following victory at the Hangzhou Marathon last November.
Other entrants include Canadian record-holder Cam Levins, fifth in Tokyo in 2023 and fourth at the World Championships in 2022, and Italy’s world bronze medallist Iliass Aouani. Japanese hopes, meanwhile, will rest on national record-holder Suguru Osako and former national record-holder Kengo Suzuki.
Leading entries
Women
Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:14:04
Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:57
Sutume Asefa Kebede (ETH) 2:15:55
Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN) 2:16:14
Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:16:34
Bertukan Welde (ETH) 2:17:56
Mestawut Fikir (ETH) 2:18:48
Mekides Shimeles (ETH) 2:19:56
Aberu Ayana (ETH) 2:20:20
Waganesh Mekasha (ETH) 2:20:26
Ai Hosoda (JPN) 2:20:31
Azmera Gebru (ETH) 2:20:48
Sara Hall (USA) 2:20:32
Viola Cheptoo (KEN) 2:21:40
Pascalia Jepkogei (KEN) 2:22:47
Yumi Yoshikawa (JPN) 2:25:20
Grace Loibach Nawowuna (KEN) debut
Men
Timothy Kiplagat (KEN) 2:02:55
Alexander Mutiso Munyao (KEN) 2:03:11
Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (KEN) 2:03:13
Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2:03:17
Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:03:23
Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba (KEN) 2:03:30
Dawit Wolde (ETH) 2:03:48
Daniel Mateiko (KEN) 2:04:24
Seifu Tura (ETH) 2:04:29
Chalu Deso Gelmisa (ETH) 2:04:53
Suguru Osako (JPN) 2:04:55
Kengo Suzuki (JPN) 2:04:56
Selemon Barega (ETH) 2:05:15
Shifera Tamru (ETH) 2:05:18
Cam Levins (CAN) 2:05:36
Ryota Kondo (JPN) 2:05:39
Suldan Hassan (SWE) 2:05:57
Muktar Edris (ETH) 2:05:59
Tsubasa Ichiyama (JPN) 2:06:00
Iliass Aouani (ITA) 2:06:06
Simon Kariuki (KEN) 2:06:29
