Workenesh Edesa wins in Osaka (© AFP / Getty Images)
Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa returns to the Osaka Women’s Marathon as the course record-holder, aiming to retain her title at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday (26).
Edesa took more than two minutes off the course record last year, matching her PB of 2:18:51 set in Berlin in 2022. She won by eight seconds from Japan’s Honami Maeda, who clocked an Asian record of 2:18:59.
This time, Edesa’s competition includes Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda and Natsumi Matsushita, who respectively finished third and seventh last year, plus Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, who is the fastest in the field.
Edesa won two of the three marathons she contested in 2024, following her victory in Osaka with a win in Sydney, also in a course record. In between those two races, she finished seventh in Boston. The 32-year-old has claimed a podium place in 13 of the 18 marathons she has raced in her career so far, including a third place in Tokyo in 2023.
Her PB of 2:18:51 makes Edesa the second-fastest in the field behind Salpeter, the 2022 world bronze medallist who ran 2:17:45 to win the Tokyo Marathon in 2020.
Salpeter’s sole marathon of 2024 was the Olympic marathon in Paris, where she placed ninth, while she finished third in Boston and fourth in the World Championships marathon in Budapest in 2023.
Among those seeking a strong performance on home soil is Matsuda, who ran 2:23:07 to finish third in Osaka last year but went on to set a PB of 2:20:42 in Berlin eight months later.
Matsuda is a three-time winner in Osaka, having secured top spot in 2018, 2020 and 2022, and this year she is aiming for a place on Japan’s team for the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
She will be joined on the start line in Osaka by her compatriots Matsushita, Yuka Suzuki and Kana Kobayashi, who have all dipped under 2:25 in their careers so far.
Matsushita ran 2:23:05 when finishing third in Osaka in 2022, while Suzuki ran a PB of 2:24:02 to finish sixth at the Olympic Games in Paris last year. Kobayashi’s PB is 2:24:59, set in Hofu last month.
Leading elite entries
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (ISR) 2:17:45
Workenesh Edesa (ETH) 2:18:51
Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) 2:20:42
Natsumi Matsushita (JPN) 2:23:05
Yuka Suzuki (JPN) 2:24:02
Kana Kobayashi (JPN) 2:24:59
Yumi Yoshikawa (JPN) 2:25:20
Chiharu Suzuki (JPN) 2:25:59
Madoka Nakano (JPN) 2:26:50
Nanaka Izawa (JPN) debut
