The Japanese marathon team for the Beijing Olympic Games was announced on Monday (10), the day after the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, the final qualifying race for the Olympic marathon team. 

For women, the team consists of Mizuki Noguchi, Reiko Tosa and Yurika Nakamura, while the men’s members are Tsuyoshi Ogata, Atsushi Sato and Satoshi Osaki.

Noguchi, of course, is the defending Olympic marathon champion, having won the gold in the Athens Olympics four years ago. Her personal best, 2:19:12, was recorded in the 2005 Berlin Marathon.  She qualified for the team by winning the 2007 Tokyo Women’s Marathon with 2:21:47, the course record. Noguchi has the chance to be the first women marathon runner to defend the Olympic title.

So far in the Olympic women’s marathon history, nobody has successfully defended the crown.  Three women have won two medals in the Olympics, however.  Rosa Mota won the bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics and then won the gold four years later.  Valentina Yegorova won the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics and then won the silver medal four-years later in Atlanta.  Yuko Arimori won a silver medal in 1992 and a bronze medal in 1996.
 
Tosa, who was fifth at the 2004 Olympics, also will be running her second Olympic Marathon.  The 2001 World Championships silver medalist, Tosa qualified for the Olympic team by winning a bronze medal in the 2007 World Championships. Her marathon best, 2:22:46, was recorded in the 2002 London Marathon. The third member of the team is Yurika Nakamura, who won the Nagoya Women’s Marathon yesterday in 2:25:51. For 21-years-old Nakamura, it was her debut marathon. Her potential is untested.

Four years ago, the Japanese women finished first, fifth and seventh. The Japanese woman have won a medal in each of the last four Olympic marathon – Arimori in 1992 and 1996, Naoko Takahashi in 2000 and Mizuki Noguchi in 2004.   

All three runners on the men’s marathon team will be running their first Olympics.  Tsuyoshi Ogata, bronze medalist at the 2005 World Championships, qualified for the Olympic team by finishing fifth in the 2007 World Championships. His marathon best, 2:08:37, was recorded in the 2003 Fukuoka Marathon.  Atsushi Sato qualified for the Olympic team by finishing third in the 2007 Fukuoka Marathon with a personal best of 2:07:13, the fourth fastest time by Japanese. He is an Asian half marathon record holder.  The third member of the team is Satoshi Osaki, who finished third in the Lake Biwa marathon a week ago with the personal best of 2:08:36.

Although not as successful as women’s team in the recent years, two Japanese men finished in top eight - fifth and sixth – four years ago in Athens.  

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF