Japan's Yuka Suzuki put forth an inspiring effort to take sixth place in the Olympic women's marathon on Sunday, August 11 in Paris, a day after compatriot Akira Akasaki placed sixth in the men's race.
The 24-year-old Suzuki, an Akita Prefecture native, covered the 42.95-kilometer distance in a personal-best time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 2 seconds over a hilly course that took the runners from central Paris to Versailles and back on a warm day in the French capital.
Suzuki finished 1 minute, 7 seconds behind winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who set an Olympic record of 2:22:55 that featured an impressive closing surge to grab the gold medal by outdueling silver medalist Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia over the last 400 meters.
Assefa's time in second place was 2:22:58, just 3 seconds behind the 31-year-old Hassan, while Kenya's Hellen Obiri picked up the bronze in 2:23:10.
Obiri's fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi was fourth in 2:23:14, with Ethiopia's Amane Shankule taking fifth at 2:23:57.
In addition to her marathon triumph, the Ethiopian-born Hassan also medaled in the 5,000 meters (bronze) and 10,000 (bronze) in Paris, something legendary Czech runner Emil Zatopek first did by winning gold in all three races at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Hassan was the champion at 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Suzuki Shares Thoughts on the Olympic Marathon
"For the first time, I was able to experience the fluctuation of the pace of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners," Suzuki remarked. "I worried about following them, but I thought I wouldn't be able to win a prize if I didn't."
She then said, "I decided to go as far as I could go, [and] I desperately followed them and tried to catch up."
Added Suzuki, "I really enjoyed this Olympics. I trained on an up-down course to prepare for this race. Maybe in the next race, on a flat course domestically or overseas, I will be able to see how far I can go toward a better time."
Details of a Competitive Marathon
Suzuki, competing in just her fourth career marathon, joined the lead pack of about a dozen runners around the 14-km mark and stayed with them all the way until a hydration station at 35 km, when five runners (Hassan, Assefa, Obiri, Lokedi, Shankule) broke away.
The winner of the Marathon Grand Championship in Tokyo in 2023 in just her third marathon, Suzuki fell back to between 10-25 seconds behind the leaders and maintained that pace until the final kilometer when Hassan, Assefa and Obiri dropped Lokedi and Shankule.
After that, the trio surged toward the finish with all three running together, before Hassan and Assefa went in front and battled over the final meters, actually bumping into each other with about 150 meters left, until Hassan found another gear to separate herself and cross the finish line first.
Defending champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya fell back at the 34-km mark and ended up 15th in 2:26:51.
Japan's only other entrant in the race, Mao Ichiyama, came in 51st in 2:34:13. The 27-year-old from Kagoshima was eighth in the Tokyo 2020 race in Sapporo.
"As you can see by my ranking, it was a crushing defeat," Ichiyama declared. "I was worried before the race, but I was happy to see many Japanese and foreign fans supporting [the runners]."
Japan was scheduled to have three runners in the contest, but Honami Maeda pulled out with a fractured right femur on Saturday, August 10.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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