Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
18 June 2001 - Berlin - The Real-Berlin Marathon has just announced that Naoko Takahashi
will run her first marathon after Sydney in Berlin on 30th September. It is the first time
that an Olympic champion joins the elite field of the Berlin Marathon.
The only other who had run in Berlin was Waldemar Cierpinski in 1997– but that was for fun.
But for Takahashi who was reported to have said: “I am happy to know which marathon I will run next. There is not much time left so I will concentrate on every single day of my training,” her entry is aimed to be a serious attempt on the women's best for the distance.
The decision to run Berlin rather than the Chicago Marathon was taken by her coach,Yoshio Koide. He was said to have opted for Berlin because of the fast course and, a major factor, because there normally is not much or no wind on the course.
Yoshio Koide was in Berlin on the day after the Rotterdam Marathon and was then guided around the course by the organisers. Nothing was said about a race schedule, but it is anticipated that Naoko Takahashi will try to break the 2:20 barrier on the course where Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) set her 2:20:43 world best in 1999.
The Real-Berlin Marathon is more in the focus of Japanese athletes since Takayuki Inubushi became the first Japanese to run sub 2:07. He was second in Berlin in 1999 with 2:06:57.
Last year for the first time Japan had a winner in Berlin
when Kazumi Matsuo ran 2:26:15.
