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Osako Finishes 12th in Tokyo Marathon, Secures Spot for Asian Games; Ethiopia’s Takele Defends Title

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:24 JST, March 1, 2026

Suguru Osako finished highest among the Japanese runners in the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, placing 12th in 2 hours 5 minutes 59 seconds and securing a spot in the men’s marathon at the Asian Games to be held in Nagoya this autumn.

Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele defended his title with a time of 2:03:37 on the course, which started in front of the Tokyo metropolitan government building and ended near JR Tokyo Station.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Runners start the Tokyo Marathon in front of the Tokyo metropolitan government building in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday.

Kengo Suzuki came in 13th, 10 seconds behind Japan record-holder Osako. In his first marathon race, Shinsaku Kudo — a Waseda University student who ran the fifth leg of the Tokyo-Hakone Intercollegiate Ekiden for three consecutive years — placed fifth among the Japanese entries, finishing 20th overall in 2:07:34.

Suzuki and Kudo secured spots for the Marathon Grand Championship, which is a qualification race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as did Tsubasa Ichiyama (third among Japanese runners), Ryota Kondo (fourth) and Tomohiro Fujimura (sixth).

Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei finished top among the female runners, setting a new course record of 2:14:29. Ai Hosoda was the highest-placing Japanese woman in the race, finishing 10th among the female runners at 2:23:39. Hosoda plans to retire from competition at the end of this fiscal year.

The times cited in this article are preliminary figures.