Naoko Takahashi selected for the Olympic marathon
team after winning in Nagoya
K. Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
13 March 2000 - The pressure was on for Naoko Takahashi at the Nagoya marathon, the last Olympic qualifying opportunity. Since Eri Yamaguchi ran 2:22:12 at the 1999 Tokyo marathon, and Harumi Hiroyama recorded 2:22:56 in the Osaka marathon 2000, Takahashi too was expected to run a 2:22 marathon. Yoshio Koide, Takahashi’s coach instructed her to start with a slow pace, but otherwise gave no other instruction and left the decision of how to run the race with her. She won in 2:22:19.
A day later on March 13, she and Eri Yamaguchi were selected for the Japanese Olympic marathon team. They will join Ari Ichihashi who was pre-selected last November (1999 World Champion). On the men's side, Takayuki Inubushi and Shinji Kawashima will join Nobuyuki Sato to completing the team make-up.
The temperature at the start of the race was 13 C. As always, the runner must face head winds for the first 28km of the race. Malgorzata Sobanska of Poland and Irina Safarova of Russia led the pack for the first kilometre. Perhaps to insure that the race would be fast, Naoko Takahashi took over the lead. The pack of six runners - Takahashi, Aki Fujikawa, Midori Fumoto, Ikuyo Goto, and Irina Safarova - passed 5km in 16:51. The second pack including the Ominami twins were 30m behind. After 6km, as Takahashi tucked behind Fumoto and Safarova, the pack slowed down. Meanwhile, at 12.5km the Ominami twins, Takami and Hiromi, running their second marathon joined the lead pack. Around 16km, as Safarova fell behind, Midori Fumoto took over the lead. The pack passed 20km in 1:08:47 (17:39) and the half marathon in 1:12:39. The temperature was rising, and one hour into the race it was 17.5C. At 22km, knowing that she must go now to run 2:22 marathon, Naoko Takahashi took off; only Midori Fumoto, running her debut marathon, briefly matched her pace. Fumoto lasted less than a 1000m, and thus began the solo run of Naoko Takahashi in her quest to make the Olympic team. Despite the head wind and uphill course, Takahashi covered 22km to 23km in 3:20, 23km to 24km in 3:16, and passed 25km in 1:25:38 (16:51).
At 25Km Takahashi was 100m ahead of Fumoto. Hiromi Ominami and Reiko Tosa were 150m behind. After the turn around point at 28.5km, with the wind behind her, Takahashi continued to press the pace, passing 30km in 1:41:54 (16:27). It was a reminiscent of the 1998 edition of Nagoya marathon when she recorded incredible splits from 30km (16:06 for 30km to 35km and 16:21 for 35km to 40km). Her running form reminds everyone of her historic run at the 1998 Asian Games. She looks to be back to the top form, reports Toshiro Tazaki, one of the foremost marathon experts in Japan. Although her splits slowed on the uphill from 31km to 32km to 3:25, Takahashi still covered 30km to 35km in 16:21 (1:58:15). At this point a national best performance record (2:21:47) was still a possibility. But the fast pace finally start to take it’s toll. She passed 40km in 2:14:58 (16:43), and finished in 2:22:19. Her second half marathon was an incredible 1:09:40.
After the race Takahashi said "I am happy to run 2:22. I would like to thank all the fans who cheered me on the course. For the first half, I ran with the pack to avoid fighting a headwind."
Twenty three years old Reiko Tosa, who was sixth at the 1999 World Half marathon championships in 1:09:36, was second in 2:24:36. The race was believed to be her second marathon. At her first attempt, she won the Ehime marathon in Matsuyama with 2:54:47 in 1998. A member of the Mitsui Kaijyo track team, she is a training partner of Mayumi Ichikawa who was 17th at the World Championshps in Seville. Lately Tosa was running so well, that Ichikawa had trouble keeping up with Tosa in training. Their coach Hideo Suzuki was concerned that Ichikawa may lose confidence by training with Tosa.
The Ominami twins ran well, but perhaps not as good as they had hoped. Takami was third in 2:26:58, and Hiromi who reported to be in great shape was fifth in 2:28:32. Before the race, their coach Shinya Takeuchi said "I expect Hiromi to run a 2:25 marathon. Otherwise I would have to consider the race as a failure."
Debutante Midori Fumoto was fourth in 2:27:55. She was a top track runner in early nineties with a 10,000m best of 32:04.40. Selected for the 1993 World Championships' team at the 10000m, she was forced to withdraw due to injury. Feeling burnt out she retired in mid-nineties - she did not compete in 1996 and 1997. She returned to racing in 1998, but her results were far from spectacular; a 33:15.64 10,000m and 1:12:09 half marathon were her best since she started competing again. She recently got engaged to Koji Shimizu, seventh in the World Championships marathon in Seville in 2:15:50.
1) Naoko Takahashi 2:22:19
2) Reiko Tosa 2:24:36
3) Takami Ominami 2:26:58
4) Midori Fumoto 2:27:55 Debut
5) Hiromi Ominami 2:28:32
6) Yukari Komatsu 2:29:32
7) Hiromi Igarashi 2:31:22
8) Aki Fujikawa 2:31:25
9) Hiroko Kinuki 2:32:20
10) Marie Söderström-Lundberg (SWE) 2:33:05
11) Tomoko Kai 2:33:31
12) Masako Kusakaya 2:33:47
13) Tomoe Yokoyama 2:34:37
14) Shiki Terasaki 2:35:05
15) Ritsuko Sasaki 2:35:18
16) Akemi Maeda 2:35:48
17) Tomoko Nishi 2:36:03
...
26) Alena Peterkova (CZE) 2:39:11
27) Natalia Galushko (RUS) 2:40:05
Splits for Naoko Takahashi
5Km 16:51
10Km 34:04 (17:13)
15Km 51:19 (17:15)
20Km 1:08:47 (17:28)
Half marathon 1:12:40
25Km 1:25:38 (16:51)
30Km 1:41:54 (16:27)
35Km 1:58:15 (16:21)
40Km 2:14:58 (16:43)
42.195Km 2:22:19 (7:22) (last half marathon in 1:09:40)
With 5Km to go, the time was 2:05:35
