Sutume Kebede retains her Tokyo Marathon title (© AFP / Getty Images)
Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede and Tadese Takele will defend their Tokyo Marathon titles against strong fields when they return to the World Athletics Platinum Label event on 1 March.
Kebede set a Japanese all-comers' record of 2:15:55 when winning in Tokyo in 2024 before retaining her title last year and now hopes for a hat-trick.
But she faces some tough opposition in a field that features five other runners with PBs under 2:18 and five of the 15 fastest women in history.
Kenya’s former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei tops the entry list with the PB of 2:14:04 she set in Chicago in 2019. More recently she won the Shanghai Marathon in November in 2:16:36 and her 2:16:02 victory in Tokyo in 2022 is one of her many major marathon wins.
They will be joined by last year’s Chicago Marathon champion Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia, who ran 2:14:57 to win that race, plus Kenya’s Berlin Marathon winner Rosemary Wanjiru (2:16:14), Ethiopia’s Chicago runner-up Megertu Alemu (2:16:34) and Ethiopia’s Bertukan Welde, who clocked 2:17:56 when finishing second in Amsterdam last year.
Other entries include USA’s Sara Hall and Japan’s Ai Hosoda and Yumi Yoshikawa.
The men’s entry list is led by Kenya’s Timothy Kiplagat, who sits joint 11th on the world all-time list with the 2:02:55 he ran to finish second in Tokyo in 2024.
He and Takele are among the eight men with sub-2:04 PBs in the field. Kiplagat’s compatriot Alexander Mutiso Munyao won the London Marathon in 2024 and ran his PB of 2:03:11 when finishing second in Valencia in 2023, while their fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich ran 2:03:13 in Berlin in 2023 and finished third in Tokyo last year.
Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha, who won the 2024 Berlin Marathon in a PB of 2:03:17, is also in the field, along with Kenya’s Geoffrey Toroitich (2:03:30), French record-holder Morhad Amdouni (2:03:47) and Ethiopia’s Dawit Wolde (2:03:48).
Takele won in Tokyo last year in 2:03:23, improving his PB by one second, and he will line up alongside another former winner – the 2023 champion Chalu Deso of Ethiopia.
Other entries include Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega and Muktar Edris, Italy’s world bronze medallist Iliass Aouani, Japanese record-holder Suguru Osako and Canadian record-holder Cam Levins.
Elite field
Women
Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:14:04
Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:57
Sutume 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
Sara Hall (USA) 2:20:32
Azmera Gebru (ETH) 2:20:48
Violah Cheptoo (KEN) 2:21:40
Pascalia Jepkogei (KEN) 2:22:47
Ai Hosoda (JPN) 2:20:31
Sinead Diver (AUS) 2:21:34
Malindi Elmore (CAN) 2:23:30
Yumi Yoshikawa (JPN) 2:25:20
Xia Yuyu (CHN) 2:25:45
Mirai Waku (JPN) 2:25:58
Ayano Ikemitsu (JPN) 2:26:07
Li Zhixuan (CHN) 2:26:15
Bai Li (CHN) 2:26:33
Xu Bingjie (CHN) 2:27:11
Aleksandra Brzezinska (POL) 2:27:20
Yuri Karasawa (JPN) 2:27:27
Lu Ying (CHN) 2:27:30
Vanessa Wilson (AUS) 2:28:34
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
Geoffrey Toroitich (KEN) 2:03:30
Morhad Amdouni (FRA) 2:03:47
Dawit Wolde (ETH) 2:03:48
Daniel Mateiko (KEN) 2:04:24
Seifu Tura (ETH) 2:04:29
Abayneh Degu (ETH) 2:04:53
Chalu Deso (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
Cameron Levins (CAN) 2:05:36
Ryota Kondo (JPN) 2:05:39
Suldan Hassan (SWE) 2:05:57
Justus Kangogo (KEN) 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
Naoki Koyama (JPN) 2:06:33
Kazuya Nishiyama (JPN) 2:06:45
Ryu Takaku (JPN) 2:06:45
Yusuke Ogura (JPN) 2:06:51
Barnaba Kipkoech (KEN) 2:06:54
Derese Workneh (ETH) 2:06:58
Vincent Yegon (KEN) debut
