[ODDS and EVENS] Hiromi Taniguchi Became the 1st Japanese Track World Champion in 1991

It's been said that experience is the best teacher ― you live and you learn. And for Hiromi Taniguchi, repetition was a key factor in his success as a marathon runner.

Being tested against high-caliber competition helped Taniguchi achieve his greatest success.

At the 1991 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (August 23-September 1), Taniguchi represented his homeland, competing in his specialized event. He was a six-time marathon winner in his 13 previous races. This included the 1987 London Marathon and the 1990 Rotterdam Marathon in the Netherlands.

The IAAF, also known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, staged its first World Championships in Athletics in 1983 in Helsinki. Four years later, Rome hosted the global meet.

When Japan earned the privilege of staging the 3rd IAAF World Championships, Taniguchi was an established runner in his prime. He was 31.

Recollections of the 1991 World Championships

Japan didn't collect a medal at the worlds in 1983 and '87. Therefore, there was plenty of pent-up anticipation (and wishes) from this nation's fervent track and field supporters for something to celebrate four years later.

However, Hiromi Taniguchi, a native of Miyazaki Prefecture, wasn't optimistic about Japan's chances to experience title-winning glory at the 1991 World Championships.

In a September 2024 interview with Kyodo News, Taniguchi recalled his mindset heading into the high-profile meet.

"At the time, people said there was no way a Japanese could win, and I wasn't very popular," Taniguchi told Kyodo News.

But his outlook and the national mood quickly changed.

What happened?

Taniguchi cited compatriot Sachiko Yamashita's silver medal-winning performance in the women's marathon on August 25, the third day of the meet, as a positive catalyst.

And on the same day, American track legend Carl Lewis broke the world record in the men's 100-meter final (9.86 seconds).

"From that point on, the excitement was all over the place," Taniguchi said, according to Kyodo News. "When Yamashita-san won the silver medal, I was still adjusting in Sapporo, but I went to practice thinking that the only thing left to do now was win the gold medal."

Hiromi Taniguchi Joins Fraternity of Marathon World Champions

On September 1, 1991, the two-time Tokyo International Marathon winner was among the large throng of athletes on the run for the 6 AM start.

Meticulous preparations paid off for Taniguchi.

More than three decades later, he remembered detailed aspects of how he got ready for the race.

"[My] 13th marathon was a failure [placing ninth at the 1991 Tokyo International Marathon]," Taniguchi was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "But I heard one of the commentators say, 'You've never won a race in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius.' Based on that story, I gathered all the data, including weather conditions, from the first through the 13th marathons and formulated countermeasures."

Taniguchi also meticulously studied the different racing strategies of two notable long-distance running stars, Italy's Gelindo Bordin, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, and Kenya's Douglas Wakiihuri.

In the interview with Kyodo News, Taniguchi explained how this helped bolster his chances of winning the race.

"We researched what kind of race patterns the world's athletes are good at," Taniguchi noted.

Top-level fitness and a dynamic athletic performance carried  Taniguchi to victory on this Sunday morning.

He completed the 42.195-km race in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 57 seconds.

Although he didn't have his fastest time on this day ― he set a personal-best time of 2:07:40 at the 1988 Beijing Marathon ―  it was the two-time Olympian's most significant race ever.

Taniguchi called it "my best marathon, not just because I won, but because everything went well, from the preparation to the finish," Kyodo News reported. "It changed my life and the Japanese track and field world."

Sound Foundation for the 2025 World Athletics Championships

Junko Asari followed with a gold medal in the women's marathon at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1997, Hiromi Suzuki captured the women's gold at the worlds in Athens.

Compatriots Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi won back-to-back Olympic women's marathon gold medals in 2000 and '04 as the popularity of marathon running continued to increase in Japan.

In 2024, Taniguchi spoke with enthusiasm about the 2025 World Athletics Championships, to be held September 13-21 at Tokyo's National Stadium.

"When you go overseas, there are many countries where world champions are more famous than those who compete in the Olympics," Taniguchi told Kyodo News.

He added: "I think it would be good if the greatness of the World Championships in Athletics could be spread more widely in Japan as well. [The 2025] World Championships will be a great opportunity to boost the popularity of track and field."

At age 64, Hiromi Taniguchi remains a vocal supporter of athletics, including the Tokyo-Hakone Round Trip College Ekiden Race held each year on January 2-3.

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• Akira Akasaki Finishes 6th in Olympic Marathon with Personal-Best Time
• EDITORIAL | Honami Maeda's New Marathon Record Sets the Bar for Olympic Hopefuls  

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles highlighting Japan's history of competition at the World Athletics Championships in the run-up to the 2025 global extravaganza in Tokyo.

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.