NAGOYA, Japan: Japan’s Ryoko Kizaki won the Nagoya International Women’s Marathon yesterday after a shoulder-to-shoulder battle with Berhane Dibaba of Ethiopia in the last two kilometres.
Kizaki left behind Athens Olympic gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi shortly before the 36km (22-mile) mark then duelled with Dibaba, finally clinching victory in a personal best time of two hours 23 minutes 34 seconds.
Dibaba was second in 2:23:51 and Noguchi third in 2:24:05.
“I was anxious before the start, I couldn’t sleep well last night, but I was able to run in my own rhythm in the latter half of the race,” said Kizaki, 27.
“I didn’t have enough experience when I competed in the London Olympics. But I didn’t give up and tried to challenge again today,” said Kizaki, who was 16th in the Olympics.
“I’m going to make the best use of this experience and hopefully I can win a medal at the worlds,” added Kizaki, who qualified for the World Championships in Moscow in August. When the last pace-setter, Russia’s Mariya Konovalova, abandoned the race at the 30km (19-mile) mark, only Kizaki, Dibaba and Noguchi remained in contention.
Noguchi briefly took the lead at around 31km, but could not stay with the pace when Dibaba moved up a gear before the 36km point.
“I felt my feet were heavy,” said Noguchi, now 34. “I thought too much that I wanted to show my best race again and it made my latter half of the race tough. It was far from perfect, but I feel I’m closer.” REUTERS
