News Archive

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 belongs to 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. It will be serious 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.”

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 had been 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

world best in 1999 (2:20:43). The real,- BERLIN MARATHON is more in the focus

of Japanese athletes since Takayuki Inubushi was 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: Kazumi Matsuo ran 2:26:15.