Lidia Simon with the Romanian flag after winning the 2001 World Marathon title (© Getty Images)
The 2005 Osaka Ladies Marathon, which doubles as a qualifying race for the Japanese World Championship Marathon team, takes place on Sunday 30 January over a course that starts and finishes at Nagai stadium, which will be the site of the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
The first Japanese finisher in the race will automatically be selected for the World Championship team provided she runs a sub-2:26 marathon, and because nobody ran sub-2:26 in the 2004 Tokyo Women’s Marathon last November, all five team spots are still open. Thus like in 2003 when top-three finishers in Osaka were selected for Paris because they had run 2:21, it could be possible to have a multiple number of runners from Sunday’s race selected for the Helsinki squad.
Romania’s Lidia Simon and Harumi Hiroyama of Japan, whose epic duel in the 2000 Osaka race will long be remembered, will resume their rivalry. Simon, 2001 World Champion as well as 2000 Olympic silver medalist, has won Osaka three times (1998 to 2000). She came back from maternity leave in 2003 has not run a good marathon lately. She ran 2:40:54 in the 2003 Chicago Marathon, followed by 2:30:40 in the 2004 Vienna race before dropping out of the Olympic race in Athens.
However, on 6 January Simon won the Miyazaki Half Marathon from Hiroyama in 1:09:58 and is suddenly again the focus of much attention. According to her agent Hideshi Okamoto, Simon has been training well and she is determined to recapture her old form.
The main Japanese challenge
Hiroyama, on the other hand, has not won a Marathon, despite the fast times she has recorded. In addition to finishing second to Simon in the 2000 edition, Hiroyama finished second to Lornah Kiplagat in 2002. She was fifth in 2004, and so missed making the Olympic marathon team for the second consecutive Olympiad.
Hiroyama may have the fastest time among Japanese entrants on Sunday, but Hiromi Ominami and Mari Ozaki, who have the third and fourth fastest marathon times among the entrants respectively, may have better potential. Ominami was second in the 2004 Berlin Marathon with a personal best of 2:23:26, while Ozaki recorded 2:23:30 in her debut at the 2003 Osaka event. Ominami had also been third in Osaka in 2004 and second in both the 2003 Rotterdam marathon and the 2002 Asian Games, while Ozaki has excelled in the shorter distances, having won the national championships 5000m in 2003 with a personal best of 15:12.76, and competed at 10000m in the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.
Another ‘local’ contender could be Rie Matsuoka, who was 6th at 5000m in the 1996 World Junior Championships, and has run in two World Championships Marathons. After finishing in 22nd in Edmonton, she was determined to make another trip to the Worlds. Sadly, Matsuoka dropped out of the Worlds marathon in Paris. By winning in Osaka, she can make another trip to the Worlds to redeem herself.
Jevtic, Prokopcuka and Botezan
Three of the top finishers in the Marathon at the last two global championships - 2003 World Championships and 2004 Olympics - will be running in Osaka.
Olivera Jevtic was sixth in the 2004 Olympics and eighth in the 2003 World Championships.
Jelena Prokopcuka was seventh at the 2004 Olympic 10,000m and tenth at the 2003 World Championships 10,000m. Her 10,000m personal best of 31:04.10, is the fastest among the entrants.
Mihaela Botezan was 11th in the 2004 Olympic Games and 13th in the 2003 World Championships, both at 10,000m.
Prokopcuka and Botezan both recorded their personal bests in the 2003 London Marathon where they finished seventh (2:24:01) and ninth (2:25:32) respectively. On the same day that year Jevtic won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:25:23, her personal best.
All three runners have excelled in the World Half Marathon Championships. Prokopcuka, Botezan and Jevtic were third (1:09:15), fourth (1:09:24) and sixth (1:09:33) respectively in the 2002 edition in Brussels, while Prokopcuka was fifth (1:08:43) at the 2001 edition in Bristol where Jevtic was seventh (1:09:51) and Botezan tenth (1:10:11).
Potential surprises
Miki Oyama, Kazue Ogoshi and Mizuho Nasukawa are three novice marathon runners with a lot of potential. Oyama, who made a more than respectable debut in the 2004 Nagoya Women’s Marathon - staying with the leaders until 30km - when she was fourth in 2:27:58, bettered her personal best in 5000m (15:42.66), 10000m (32:17.19) and Half Marathon (1:09:54) in 2004. Both Kazue Ogoshi and Mizuho Nasukawa made their debuts a year ago in Osaka. While Ogoshi, who twice set 20Km junior records, hit the wall at 35Km and finished disappointing 13th in 2:36:27, Nasukawa, a former middle distance runner (1500m best, 4:16.92), was fourth in 2:29:49. Nasukawa is coached by Yoshio Koide who also coaches Naoko Takahashi.
However, if anybody can be a big surprise like Naoko Sakamoto was two years ago, it is Yuki Saito, who is making her debut in Osaka. She was fifth in the 2004 World Half Marathon Championships, holds the national 10,000m debut record (31:49.29) - PB is now 31:41.49 - has a Half Marathon best of 1:09:43.
Another marathon debutante in the field is Yasuyo Iwamoto, who was ninth with 1:10:06 in the 2001 World Half Marathon championships in Bristol.
Fast course
Despite the hills around Osaka castle, Osaka’s course has a reputation of being very fast. Last year no pace setter was designated, which made the initial pace very slow. This year, Luminita Talpos and Olga Romanova have been hired as pace setters, which should make the race much faster than last year. The course record, 2:21:18, was recorded by the reigning Olympic champion, Mizuki Noguchi in 2003.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
List of Invited Runners:
Name - Personal Best - Venue
International:
Lidia Simon (ROM) 2:22:54 - 2000 Osaka
Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:24:01 - 2003 London
Olivera Jevtic (SCG) 2:25:23 - 2003 Rotterdam
Mihaela Botezan (ROM) 2:25:32 - 2003 London
Anastasia Ndereba (KEN) 2:29:03 - 2002 Venice
Marina Ivanova (RUS) 1:11:09 - Half Marathon
Pace Setters:
Luminita Talpos (ROM) 2:27:32 - 2003 Osaka
Olga Romanova (RUS) 1:10:16 - Half Marathon
Japanese:
Harumi Hiroyama 2:22:56 - 2000 Osaka
Hiromi Ominami 2:23:26 - 2004 Berlin
Mari Ozaki 2:23:30 - 2003 Osaka
Rie Matsuoka 2:24:33 - 2002 Paris
Miki Oyama 2:27:58 - 2004 Nagoya
Mizuho Nasukawa 2:29:49 - 2004 Osaka
Asami Obi 2:33:34 - 2004 Nagano
Kazue Ogoshi 2:36:27 - 2004 Osaka
Yuki Saito 1:09:43 - 2004 Sapporo Half
Yasuyo Iwamoto 1:10:06 - 2001 World Half
