Toshihiko Seko Names Honami Maeda as Gold Medal Contender for Paris Olympics Women’s Marathon

The men’s and women’s marathons at the Paris Olympics will be held on August 10 and 11, both starting at 8:00 am (3:00 pm Japan time on both days). Toshihiko Seko, 68, marathon leader of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, said, “I have the highest expectations for Honan Maeda, 28, in the women’s race. If she can run and run and run, she could even win the gold medal,” he said, predicting the first Japanese women’s marathon in 20 years.

The 42.195-km race will start from Paris City Hall, pass by the Opera House and the Louvre, turn around near the Palace of Versailles, pass the Eiffel Tower, and finish at the Place d’Ambaride, where Emperor Napoleon rests.

Seko, who competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was deeply involved in the training and selection of the Japanese national team as a coach, said, “It is said that the Olympics are more about competition than records. I think Paris will be a hell of a race. The Boston Marathon, which I won, has the famous ‘heart-breaking hill,’ but I don’t think it will compare to that.

The weather conditions on the day of the race are expected to be around 20 degrees Celsius and 50% humidity, and the climb up the steep hill will be difficult, but Maeda will not be intimidated by this and will find his chance to win by boldly taking on the challenge and making his move.

Maeda has the spirit of daring. In the Osaka International Women’s Race in January this year, Maeda moved ahead of the pacemaker after the halfway point and ran alone in the second half, finishing in second place and setting a new Japanese record of 2 hours 18 minutes 59 seconds. In Paris, she made her first spurt on the long uphill from 15 km to 18 km, and then again on the steep hill after 28 km, a double-decker rocket.

The main contenders for the win were Tigisto Asefa (27, Ethiopia), the world record holder with 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds, and Perez Jepchirchir (30, Kenya), the Tokyo Olympics queen and a two-time consecutive winner. Maeda is about 7 minutes ahead of Asefa in time carried. If they were to compete properly, they would show the difference in strength. Therefore, Mr. Seko took advantage of the severe ups and downs in the race to make the Africans panic by making a big breakaway move.

Winning is supreme for the Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes. That is why they have big sponsors and generous support. Mr. Seko continues.

In addition to the pressure of business competition, the prestige of their countries is also at stake, so they cannot afford to lose. The rivalry between the two countries is tremendous. Our strategy is to take advantage of the fact that the two women are checking each other out. It would be interesting to see Maeda run away from the field.

Maeda’s big run will be watched closely to see if she can regain her title for the first time in 20 years. Also competing are Mao Ichiyama (27), who finished 8th in Tokyo, and Yuka Suzuki (24), who shows great promise.

The men’s field consists of Akira Akasaki (26), Naoshiro Koyama (28), and Suguru Osako (33). Seko is confident in Akasaki’s spirit of challenge , saying, “He is fast and has a lot of potential.

But God is with him.

He has a glance or two at Eliud Kipchoge (39, Kenya), the absolute champion.’ In October 2007, he became the first human being to break the two-hour mark with a time of 1:59:40, although unauthorized, and he reigns as the undisputed top runner.

I’ve never seen him look so distressed. He has an aura about him.

He has now won two consecutive titles since Rio de Janeiro in 2004. If he also wins Paris, he will surpass Abebe Bikila (Ethiopia) of Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964, and Waldemar Czerpinski (former East Germany) of Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980 to achieve the unprecedented feat of winning gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games.

At 39 years old, this would be his last Olympics. Kelvin Kiptam, a junior athlete in his home country and the world record holder with a time of 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 35 seconds, died in a car accident in February this year at the young age of 24. For his own successor, the marathon god will put his whole heart and soul into winning.

To be honest, there is a gap between us and the Africans,” said Kiptam. My goal is to finish in the men’s race, and three years ago, Osako did a great job of sticking with us, coming in sixth. I hope that they will have races that will lead them to the next round in Los Angeles and beyond. In order for Japan to improve, it is important for us to continue to produce results, because that is the “flow” of the sport.

This year’s marathon, which is held under the slogan of “gender equality,” swapped for the first time the day of the men’s and women’s marathons, with the men’s race running first and the women’s race serving as the finale. We look forward to Maeda’s brilliant finish and her first step toward the revival of the marathon kingdom.