Skip to main content

Osaka Top Japanese and Olympic Hopeful Tomo Morimoto On Hold Until Nagoya

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20080128-OHT1T00072.htm
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/chugoku/okayama/080129/oky0801290224004-n1.htm
http://www.okanichi.co.jp/20080129122320.html
http://www.okanichi.co.jp/20080129122635.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

At the Osaka International Women's Marathon on Jan. 27, 2nd place overall finisher Tomo Morimoto (24, Team Tenmaya) couldn't quite secure a position on the Beijing Olympic team. Although she couldn't move with eventual winner Mara Yamauchi's breakaway at 32 km, Morimoto didn't lose any additional ground over the final 9 km. Describing her race, Morimoto said, "I was watching the breathing of the runners around me, and at 30 km I took off. I was a little weak mentally this time, though and couldn't keep my own race together. That's why my time was not what I wanted."

Morimoto was the top Japanese finisher in 2:25:34, off her target time of 2:22-23. "I'm very happy to have been the top Japanese in an Olympic selection race," Morimoto commented after the race. "The Nagoya selection race is still coming up and I know that it will be hard to make the Olympics with the time I ran here, but I'm going to train with the assumption that I will be selected. I'm trying not to think about it and to just focus on doing what I need to do to recover from this marathon quickly and get on with my training." Team Tenmaya coach Yutaka Taketomi detailed Morimoto's preparation schedule, including a long, intensive training camp on Amami Oshima. "We will be focusing on improving her speed until after the official Olympic team selection is made."

Among the scheduled entrants at Nagoya are Morimoto's Team Tenmaya teammates Naoko Sakamoto and Yurika Nakamura. For Morimoto, "It would be wonderful if Tenmaya had a team member in the Olympics for the 3rd time in a row, but of course, for myself they are still my rivals. I want to reach my own dream."

On Jan. 29 Morimoto attended an award ceremony where she was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Okayama Prefecture Governor Masahiro Ishii. "I couldn't reach my goal of winning, but I'm proud to still be in contention for the Olympics," Morimoto said during her speech. Addressing the assembled crowd, Governor Ishii told Morimoto, "I look forward to hearing good news in March. Please take care of yourself while recovering and do your best during your spring training."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun
Post a Comment
Read more

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43
Post a Comment
Read more