Japan has chosen the three men and three women who will represent them in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships London 2017.
The Japanese federation (JAAF) had outlined four selection races each on which they would base their selections for the three men and three women. For the women, the races were the Hokkaido Marathon, the Saitama Marathon, the Osaka Marathon and the Nagoya Marathon. The men&rsquo;s selections were based on the results of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, the Fukuoka Marathon, the Tokyo Marathon and the Lake Biwa Marathon.
Yuka Ando guaranteed her selection after producing the fastest marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, to finish second in Nagoya. She will be joined on the team by Mao Kiyota, who finished third in Nagoya in 2:23:47, and Osaka winner Risa Shigetomo. Misato Horie, the Osaka runner-up, has been named as a reserve.
After a 2:08:22 breakthrough performance at the Tokyo Marathon, Hiroto Inoue leads the men&rsquo;s trio. Prolific racer Yuki Kawauchi, who finished third in Fukuoka in December in 2:09:11, has been selected for his third World Championships team, having finished in the top 20 in 2011 and 2013. Beppu-Oita winner Kentaro Nakamoto was awarded the third spot on the team, while Hiroyuki Yamamoto is down as the reserve.
Of the 23 World Championships medals won by Japan, 14 have been earned in the marathon.
<h3>Japanese marathon team for London</h3>
Men: Hiroto Inoue, Yuki Kawauchi, Kentaro Nakamoto. Reserve: Hiroyuki Yamamoto.
Women: Yuka Ando, Mao Kiyota, Risa Shigetomo. Reserve: Misato Horie.

Japan has chosen the three men and three women who will represent them in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships London 2017.

Japan selects marathon team for IAAF World Championships London 2017

Overhauling early leader Misato Horie in the 35th kilometre, Risa Shigetomo won the Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday (29), clocking 2:24:22.
It was second fastest performance of the 29-year-old&rsquo;s career, less than a minute shy of her 2:23:23 set in Osaka five years ago in her only other marathon victory. Then, her victory clinched a berth on the Japanese squad for the London Olympics; this time her win could mean a return to the British capital as a member of the squad for the IAAF World Championships London 2017.
&ldquo;Running in the closing stages of the race, all I could think was to give everything I had,&rdquo; Shigetomo said during a post-race television interview with 2000 Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi. &ldquo;I am happy to have run well all the way to the finish today. For a while I was not sure if I could even start today&rsquo;s race.
&ldquo;When the pace suddenly increased (at about 13 kilometres),&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;I was surprised to see such a big gap open up in front of me because I was not feeling bad at that point. Then at about 17 or 18 kilometres, I started to regain my running rhythm.&rdquo;
<h3>Shigetomo cautious early on</h3>
When Flomena Cheyech Daniel, the final pace maker, covered the 14th kilometre in 3:17, only Misaki Kato, Horie and Kaori Yoshida were able to maintain contact. When Cheyech departed after reaching the half in 1:11:46, the trio formed the lead pack, with Yoshida pushing the pace from the midway point. Kato began to drift back as she approached 25 kilometres where Horie took over the lead. Back-to-back kilometre splits of 3:23 and 3:17 dropped Yoshida.
Shigetomo moved into second by the 29th kilometre and began cutting into Horie&rsquo;s lead. Twenty-one seconds behind at the 31st kilometre, she reduced the gap to six seconds by the 35th. Just 500 metres later, Shigetomo moved to the front for good.
Although she slowed near the finish, she won comfortably in her 10th marathon start, her fifth in Osaka.
Shigetomo now has to wait until the second Sunday in March when the Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon, the final qualifying race for the Japanese squad, will be held to see if she has earned her ticket for a return engagement in London. Selection would be a redemption of sorts for Shigetomo who, slowed by an untimely injury, finished a distant 79th at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Horie finished second in 2:25:44, almost a minute better than her previous 2:26:40 personal best recorded at last July&rsquo;s Gold Coast Marathon in Brisbane.
&ldquo;I have to accomplish something in every marathon and so at least I got my personal best today,&rdquo; said Horie, who notched a second consecutive marathon lifetime best.
Hanae Tanaka, running in her first competitive outing over the distance, was third in 2:26:19. Tanaka ran the Kakogawa Marathon in December as a long training run leading up to today&rsquo;s race, clocking 2:42:23.
Serena Burla of the US, who underwent cancer treatment in 2010, ran a strong second half to finish fourth in 2:26:53, an improvement of more than a minute on her previous 2:28:01 lifetime best set at the 2013 Amsterdam Marathon.
Further back, Shitaye Eshete Habtegebrel of Bahrain, one of the pre-race favourites, was fifth in 2:28:36, ahead of Japanese Risa Takenaka and Iwona Lewandowska Bernardelli of Poland, who clocked 2:28:44 and 2:29:37, respectively.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
<h3>Leading results</h3>
1 Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:24:22 2 Misato Horie (JPN) 2:25:44 3 Hanae Tanaka (JPN) 2:26:19 4 Serena Burla (USA) 2:26:53 5 Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel (BRN) 2:28:36 6 Risa Takenaka (JPN) 2:28:44 7 Iwona Bernardelli (POL) 2:29:37 8 Mulhabt Tsega (ETH) 2:30:38 9 Asami Furuse (JPN) 2:30:44 10 Misaki Kato (JPN) 2:31:28

Overhauling early leader Misato Horie in the 35th kilometre, Risa Shigetomo won the Osaka Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday (29), clocking 2:24:22.

Shigetomo triumphs in Osaka

Bahrain&rsquo;s Shitaye Eshete will be looking to break up the Japanese dominance of the Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon when she competes at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on January 29.
The 26-year-old may not have the fastest PB of the field, but Eshete&rsquo;s impressive CV and 2:25:36 debut in Dubai earlier this year suggests she has the potential to win in the Japanese city next month. She finished sixth in the 10,000m at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and at the London 2012 Olympics, where she set a national record of 30:47.25.
Five of the past six editions of the Osaka Ladies Marathon have been won by Japanese women, and with this year&rsquo;s race doubling up as one of the selection races for the IAAF World Championships London 2017, it&rsquo;s no surprise that there is a strong domestic field.
Risa Shigetomo&rsquo;s PB of 2:23:23 makes her the fastest of all the entrants. She is also the only former Osaka winner in the field, having won in 2012. She finished fifth at this year&rsquo;s Osaka Marathon and second in 2015.
Mai Ito, who finished seventh at the 2015 World Championships, will also be looking to secure her spot on the team for London. She is yet to win a marathon, but her highest finish over 26.2 miles came in Osaka in 2011.
No one in the field is more familiar with the Osaka course than Mari Ozaki. Now 41, Ozaki will be making her eighth appearance at the Osaka Marathon, although she won&rsquo;t be expected the challenge the PB of 2:23:30 she set back in 2003.
Other Japanese runners in the field include 2013 Osaka runner-up Yuko Watanabe, Gold Coast Marathon champion Misato Horie, and 2016 Osaka third-place finisher Risa Takenaka. The international runners include Poland&rsquo;s Iwona Lewandowska, USA&rsquo;s Serena Burla and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Muluhabt Tsega.
<h3>Elite field</h3>
Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:23:23 Mari Ozaki (JPN) 2:23:30 Mai Ito (JPN) 2:24:42 Shitaye Eshete (BRN) 2:25:36 Yuko Watanabe (JPN) 2:25:56 Misato Horie (JPN) 2:26:40 Iwona Lewandowska (POL) 2:27:47 Serena Burla (USA) 2:28:01 Risa Takenaka (JPN) 2:28:09 Kaori Yoshida (JPN) 2:28:43 Muluhabt Tsega (ETH) 2:29:17 Jin Lingling (CHN) 2:30:27 Yuka Takemoto (JPN) 2:31:02 Misaki Kato (JPN) 2:31:04 Aya Higashimoto (JPN) 2:31:28 Hiroko Miyauchi (JPN) 2:32:20 Cassie Fien (AUS) 2:33:17 Munkhzaya Bayartsogt (MGL) 2:33:31 Hanae Tanaka (JPN) debut

Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete will be looking to break up the Japanese dominance of the Osaka Women’s Marathon when she competes at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on January 29.

Shitaye to take on top Japanese talent in Osaka

The 35th Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, is one of the four qualifying races to select the Japanese marathon team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, so most of the attention of the local fans will be on the domestic runners on Sunday (31).&nbsp; Mai Ito was seventh at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 and has clinched her spot on the Brazil-bound team so only two slots are left. In Osaka, the best way to qualify for the Olympics will be to run faster than 2:22:30. No runner in Osaka &ndash; domestic or overseas &ndash; has ever run this fast but two Japanese runners, both previous winners of this race, appear to have a chance to get this standard and go to Rio.Kayoko Fukushi, third in the marathon at the 2013 IAAF World Championships, has a best of 2:24:21 when winning this race in 2013 while 2012 Olympian Risa Shigetomo ran 2:23:23 to win four years ago.Fukushi, now 33, has been Japan&rsquo;s best female track runner with several national records to her name and, with a half marathon best of 1:07:26, these numbers all point to a potentially faster marathon time than her current best.In the past, she was emphasising speed workouts over the distance but Fukushi has added more volume to her training for this marathon, and thus she might finally run the time her fans have expected from her. &ldquo;My goal is to win with the time under 2:22:30,&rdquo; Fukushi told local reporters this week.At the 2015 Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon, Shigetomo finished second with 2:26:39, the second-fastest time of her career, before finishing a slightly disappointing 14th at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.<h3>Chepyego and Habtamu the top overseas contenders</h3>If anybody can challenge Fukushi and Shigetomo in Osaka, it is likely to be Ethiopia&rsquo;s Atsede Habtamu, who has a marathon best of 2:24:25 from the 2011 Berlin Marathon, and Kenya&rsquo;s Selly Kaptich Chepyego, the world half marathon bronze medallist&nbsp; Habtamu recently said, &ldquo;I want to break 2:24&rdquo;, but because her most recent results are 2:29:40 for sixth place at the 2015 Toronto Waterfront Marathon and a 1:11:47 half marathon in the Czech town of Olomouc, this looks highly ambitious.Chepyego&rsquo;s marathon best may be only 2:26:43, from the 2015 Tokyo Marathon, but since it is the only marathon of her career, it may not be a good indicator of her true ability over the classic distance. With a 10,000m best of 31:22.11 and a half marathon of 1:07:52 to her name, she should be able to run much faster. &nbsp;Other Japanese runners who might have a chance to make the Olympic team are Yuko Watanabe, who ran 2:25:56 at the 2013 Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon, Misato Horie, who was seventh at the 2014 Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon with 2:27:57, and Risa Takenaka, who was fourth at the 2015 Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon. Mari Ozaki, now 39, has a respectable marathon best of 2:23:30 but that was set more than 10 years ago at the 2003 Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon. Last year in Osaka, Ozaki finished sixth with 2:29:56 so she can still run decent times but is probably not in contention for the Olympic team. A new category of the &lsquo;Next Heroine&rsquo; was established last year, and six young Japanese runners in their early 20s will make their marathon debuts. The best among them are Misaki Kato, who has 1:09:49 half marathon best, and Sakurako Fukuchi, who ran 1:11:44 for the half marathon. The original Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon course was used for the marathons at the 2007 IAAF World Championships, but in 2011 the course was modified slightly to make it faster. The maximum elevation difference of the course decreased from 23 metres to nine metres. The course used to go through middle of Osaka Castle Park which is quite undulating but now the course goes around the outer rim of Osaka Castle to avoid the multiple hills.&nbsp; But despite the course changes, the fastest time recorded in the race has been Mizuki Noguchi's 2:21:18 in 2003, a year before she won the 2004 Olympic title. Shigetomo's 2012 winning time of 2:23:23 is the fastest on the current course.Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

The 35th annual Osaka Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, is one of the four qualifying races to select the Japanese marathon team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, so most of the attention of the local fans will be focused on the domestic runners on Sunday (31).  

Olympic places on the line in Osaka

Past Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon winners Risa Shigetomo and Kayoko Fukushi will return to the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on 31 January with Olympic qualification on their mind.The Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon is one of four selection races outlined by the Japanese federation, along with the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 marathon, the Saitama Marathon and the forth-coming Nagoya Marathon.A performance of 2:22:30 will preferentially be picked for the team for Rio, joining Mai Ito who guaranteed her spot on the team with a top-eight finish in Beijing earlier this year.Shigetomo won in Osaka in 2012, setting a PB of 2:23:23. She finished second in 2015 before going on to finish 14th at the World Championships.Fukushi was retroactively named the winner of the 2013 Osaka race following the ban of Tetiana Shmyrko. She set her PB of 2:24:21 on that occasion and then went on to take the bronze medal in the event at that year&rsquo;s World Championships.More recently, she came within four seconds of her PB to finish fourth at the Chicago Marathon two months ago.Veteran Mari Ozaki set her PB of 2:23:30 when making her marathon debut in Osaka in 2003. Ozaki is now 40 but is still competitive; she finished sixth in 2015 and third in 2013.Yuko Watanabe also set her PB in Osaka, clocking 2:25:56 to finish second in 2013. She made it on to the podium again in 2015, finishing third.Misaki Kato is one of six elite Japanese women making marathon debut in Osaka. Kato finished second in the half marathon in Osaka last year in a PB of 1:09:49.Ethiopia&rsquo;s Atsede Habtamu is the fastest of the non-domestic entries. Winner of the 2012 Tokyo Marathon and 2009 Berlin Marathon, Habtamu has a PB of 2:24:25.World half-marathon bronze medallist Selly Chepyego will be contesting her second marathon to date. In her debut earlier this year, she finished a respectable fourth in Tokyo in 2:26:43.Karolina Nadolska, the Polish record-holder for 10,000m and the half marathon, is also entered. She finished second in Osaka in 2014 with a PB of 2:26:31.Ethiopia's 2009 world 10,000m silver medallist Meselech Melkamu and 2013 world 10,000m bronze medallist Belaynesh Oljira will be among the pace makers.<h3>Elite field (with PBs)</h3>Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:23:23 Mari Ozaki (JPN) 2:23:30 Kayoko Fukushi (JPN) 2:24:21 Atsede Habtamu (ETH) 2:24:25 Yuko Watanabe (JPN) 2:25:56 Karolina Nadolska (POL) 2:26:31 Selly Kaptich Chepyego (KEN) 2:26:43 Kim Seong Eun (KOR) 2:27:20 Beatrice Toroitich (KEN) 2:27:41 Misato Horie (JPN) 2:27:57 Diana Lobacevske (LTU) 2:28:03 Risa Takenaka (JPN) 2:28:09 Chieko Kido (JPN) 2:29:08 Misaki Kato (JPN) debut Sakurako Fukuchi (JPN) debut Aiko Sakata (JPN) debut Mai Nagaoka (JPN) debut Saki Tokoro (JPN) debut Eri Utsunomiya (JPN) debut

Past Osaka Women’s Marathon winners Risa Shigetomo and Kayoko Fukushi will return to the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on 31 January with Olympic qualification on their mind.

Shigetomo and Fukushi lead Osaka Women’s Marathon field

Ukraine&rsquo;s Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko will return to the Osaka Women's Marathon on 25 January and bid to become just the second woman to win in the Japanese city on three successive occasions, after organisers of the IAAF Silver Label Road Race announced their elite field on Friday (26).In what will be the 34th edition of the race, Gamera-Shmyrko will be looking to emulate the feat of Romania&rsquo;s Lidia Simon, who won three times between 1998-2000.Two former winners will also be looking to add to their list of titles: local hope and 2012 Osaka winner Risa Shigetomo and Latvia&rsquo;s 38-year-old Jelena Prokopcuka, who took the honours in Osaka in 2005 but is still running well and finished fourth last month in the New York Marathon.Kenya&rsquo;s Margaret Agai, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Melkam Gizaw and Poland&acute;s Karolina Jarzynska complete the small but classy contingent of overseas invited runners.Among the Japanese women are two-time Osaka runner up Mari Ozaki as well as Azusa Nojiri and Yuko Watanabe, who were third in 2012 and 2013 respectively.Organisers for the IAAF<h3>Elite field (with PBs)</h3>Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:22:56 Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:23:23 Margaret Agai (KEN) 2:23:28 Mari Ozaki (JPN) 2:23:30 Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko (UKR) 2:23:58 Azusa Nojiri (JPN) 2:24:57 Yuko Watanabe (JPN) 2:25:56 Melkam Gizaw (ETH) 2:26:24 Karolina Jarzynska (POL) 2:26:31 Kaoru Nagao (JPN) 2:26:58 Rika Shintaku (JPN) 2:30:37 Hiroko Miyauchi (JPN) 2:32:20 Shoko Mori (JPN) 2:35:10

Ukraine’s Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko will return to the Osaka Women's Marathon on 25 January and bid to become just the second woman to win in the Japanese city on three successive occasions, after organisers of the IAAF Silver Label Road Race announced their elite field on Friday (26).

Gamera-Shmyrko will bid for third Osaka victory

The champions from the past three editions of Osaka Women’s Marathon – Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko, Risa Shigetomo and Yukiko Akaba – have returned to contest the IAAF Silver Label Road Race, which this year &nbsp;doubles as a selection race for the 2014 Asian Games, on Sunday (26).&nbsp; Five runners – Katrin Dorre, Lidia Simon, Lorraine Moller, Carey May and Yoko Shibui – have won the Osaka Women’s Marathon more than once. Can one of this trio add her name to this list?The favorite may be Ukraine’s defending champion Gamera-Shmyrko, who also finished second in 2012.&nbsp; Gamera-Shmyrko, fifth in the London 2012 Olympic Games but who dropped out of her last marathon, the 2013 New York Marathon, has returned full of optimism that she will bounce back after her disappointment in the Big Apple just under three months ago. This year, in her own words, she is in great shape. Her main challenger may be local star Risa Shigetomo, who held off the challenge of Gamera-Shmyrko in 2012 to win with 2:23:23.&nbsp; However, after her breakthrough in the 2012 Osaka Women’s Marathon, Shigetomo has not run a good marathon. She finished 79th at the 2012 Olympic Games in 2:40:06, 12th at the Hokkaido Marathon in a modest 2:51:55 and 11th at the New York Marathon in 2:31:54.&nbsp; Nevertheless, Shigetomo has shown good form over shorter distances recently. In the Queens’ Ekiden last month, she was second-fastest on the 10.9km stage with 35:55 and then in the Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden earlier this month, she was the fastest in the 10km stage with 31:50. The third woman who has a chance to be a multiple winner is 34-year-old Yukiko Akaba, and the 2014 Osaka Women’s Marathon will be the final serious race of her career.&nbsp; Akaba won the 2011 Osaka Women’s Marathon in 2:26:29, and ran a personal best of 2:24:09 at the 2011 London Marathon, but she will also be remembered for her fifth-place finish at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.Ever since she decided to finish her top-level career in Osaka, Akaba has repeatedly said that she wants to finish her career with the win.Yuko Watanabe, who was third last year in 2:25:56, is potentially one of the women who could spoil the top trio’s dreams of a repeat win.But there is a question mark over her recent form as she was only 34th fastest on the 10km stage of the Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden. However, Watanabe says her training since then has gone well and she feels that she can, at least, improve her personal best.For Mari Ozaki, 37, who recorded a personal best of 2:23:30 in her marathon debut at the 2003 Osaka Women’s Marathon, Sunday’s race will be her sixth outing in Osaka. In fact, the only other marathons she has run in her career are the 2010 London Marathon and the 2005 and 2007 IAAF World Championships, but since Ozaki still ran 2:26:41 for the fourth place last year, she should not be counted out.&nbsp; A lot of eyes will also be on Poland’s Karolina Jarzynska who, after finishing sixth in Osaka 12 months ago, reduced her personal best at the marathon to 2:26:45 in Lodz last April and set a Polish 10,000m record of 31:43.51 in Ostrava last summer, the latter being the fastest European time of the year over 25 laps of the track.Ethiopia’s Marta Lema Megra may also be on the verge of a breakthrough. She ran three marathons in 2013, culminating with 2:28:02 for second place at the Kosice Marathon and says that her goal for Sunday is to break 2:25.&nbsp; Great Britain’s Louise Damen recorded her personal best of 2:30:00 at the 2011 London Marathon and her goal is also to improve her personal best. Damen has received advice about the course from her countrywoman and 2008 Osaka Women’s Marathon champion Mara Yamauchi.&nbsp;&nbsp; Other invited runners from abroad are Kenya’s Hellen Mugo, who recorded her personal best of 2:27:16 in Carpi in 2010, Russia’s Natalya Puchkova, who recorded her personal best of 2:30:17 at the 2012 Hannover Marathon, and Italy’s Deborah Toniols, who has a best of 2:28:31 although that was set back in 2006.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

The champions from the past three editions of the Osaka Women’s Marathon – Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko, Risa Shigetomo and Yukiko Akaba – have returned to contest the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on Sunday (26).  

Gamera-Shmyrko is bidding to be first back-to-back Osaka winner in 14 years 

The champions from the past three editions of the Osaka Women’s Marathon – Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko, Risa Shigetomo and Yukiko Akaba – have returned to contest the IAAF Silver Label Road Race, which this year  doubles as a selection race for the 2014 Asian Games, on Sunday (26).  

The organisers of the 33rd edition of the Osaka International Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, have announced that Ukraine’s reigning champion Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko&nbsp;will defend her title on 26 January.Gamera-Shmyrko, who won earlier this year in 2:23:58, will be bidding to become the first woman since Romania’s Lidia Simon won the third of her three consecutive titles in 2000 to successfully defend her crown in the Japanese city.The Ukrainian is one of four former champions who are scheduled to be on the start line in Osaka next month, but the only non-Japanese runner among that quartet.Japan’s marathon record-holder, 2004 Olympic champion and 2003 Osaka winner Mizuki Noguchi, has the accolade of being the fastest woman in the field with her time of 2:19:12 from the 2005 Berlin Marathon.Noguchi also holds the course record with her time of 2:21:18 from when she won a decade ago, although the course was modified slightly in 2011 in a bid to produce faster times. She will be accompanied by her compatriots Yukiko Akaba and Risa Shigetomo, the 2011 and 2012 winners respectively.Also on the start line will be Yuko Watanabe and Mari Ozaki, who finished third and fourth in this year’s race.Watanabe set her personal best of 2:25:56 in Osaka and went on to win the Sapporo Marathon in August while Ozaki, now 38, has also finished second in Osaka twice and has a third place to her name.There will also be a lot of local interest in how the talented Japanese runners Sayo Nomura and Sairi Maeda&nbsp;perform on their debuts over the classic distance.In addition to Gamera-Shmyrko, the contingent of international runners includes Poland’s Karolina Jarzynska, Kenya’s Hellen Mugo and Ethiopia’s Marta Lema.Phil Minshull for the IAAFLeading entries (with best times): Mizuki Noguchi (JPN) 2:19:12 Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:23:23 Mari Ozaki (JPN) 2:23:30 Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko (UKR) 2:23:58 Yukiko Akaba (JPN) 2:24:09 Yuko Watanabe (JPN) 2:25:56 Karolina Jarzynska (POL) 2:26:45 Hellen Mugo (KEN) 2:27:16 Marta Lema (ETH) 2:28:02 Louise Damen (GBR) 2:30:00 Natalya Puchkova (RUS) 2:30:17 Deborah Toniolo (ITA) 2:31:20 Sayo Nomura (JPN) debut Sairi Maeda (JPN) debut

The organisers of the 33rd edition of the Osaka International Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, have announced that Ukraine’s reigning champion Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko will defend her title on 26 January.