NAGOYA – Ichitaka Yamashita of Japan clinched the gold medal in the men’s marathon at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, finishing with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 49 seconds.
The 29-year-old athlete broke away from the pack around the 36-kilometer mark, completing a solo effort to the finish line at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. India’s Sawan Barwal secured the silver medal, finishing 48 seconds behind, while Chinese runner Feng Peiyou took bronze, finishing 36 seconds later. Yuya Yoshida, another Japanese competitor, placed 11th.
Yamashita expressed his joy, stating, “We’ve been talking about using this race as a stepping stone aiming for the Los Angeles Olympics, so it’s really great to win the gold medal here.”
Initially part of a seven-man lead group around the 30 km mark, Yamashita observed as North Korea’s Han Il Ryong, who ultimately placed fourth, and Barwal surged ahead. Yamashita, however, strategically paced himself and regained the lead around the 35 km mark, overtaking his rivals as they faltered.
“I simply couldn’t go after them (initially). I thought I might be in a bit of trouble,” he recounted. “But they weren’t raising their pace as much as I expected and once I caught them, the only choice was to keep going as I’m not someone good toward the end.”
In the women’s marathon, Bahrain’s Shitaye Habte claimed victory with a time of 2:27:31, narrowly beating China’s Ciren Cuomu, who finished 12 seconds later for silver. Japan’s Mikuni Yada took bronze, just 13 seconds behind, having also represented Japan in the 10,000 meters at last year’s world championships.
Mid-race, eight athletes formed a leading pack, but Yada experienced a collision with Indonesia’s Rose Sitienei, who finished fifth. After recovering, Yada led a group in the final stretch, but Habte surged ahead in the last five kilometers.
“I’m relieved to get the bronze medal, but it’s a bit frustrating as I was aiming for the gold,” Yada admitted. Having set a national debut record in January with a time of 2:19:57 during the Osaka Women’s Marathon, she faced challenges, including right knee ligament damage just a month prior to the Games.
“Given I couldn’t train much, I was able to wrap things up well. I heard people close to me had to evacuate after the quake, and the only thing I can do is give them courage through my running,” she said.
