Athletics: Japan’s Kizaki wins Nagoya marathon

NAGOYA: 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  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. “I’m going to make the best use of this experience and hopefully I can win a medal at the World Championships in Moscow in August.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2013.