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Fukushi a Near-lock For Rio

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The Yomiuri Shimbun

OSAKA — Kayoko Fukushi virtually secured a spot at this summer’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday, winning the Osaka Women’s Marathon with the seventh-best time ever for a Japanese woman.

The 33-year-old finished in 2 hours 22 minutes 17 seconds, just under the standard time of 2:22:30 set by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations to qualify for Rio. The Osaka marathon is one of three domestic qualifiers for this year’s Games.
 
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If she’s selected, the Rio Games will be Fukushi’s fourth straight Olympic appearance since the 2004 Athens Games, but her first as a marathoner.

Fukushi previously participated in other long-distance running events.
Sunday’s race was run at a high pace early on, with strong favorites dropping out of the lead group one by one.

Fukushi ran unchallenged from about the middle of the race, ultimately finishing more than 6 minutes ahead of runner-up Misato Horie.
 

 

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