Chepkemoi headlines Osaka marathon women's field as she looks to walk in Ndereba's shoes

A new name will be added to the Osaka Women’s Marathon list of winners on Sunday 29 January as none of the past champions will be in attendance at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race.

Japanese women have dominated the race in recent years, winning six of the past seven editions. 

But Kenya's Maurine Chepkemoi, Haven Hailu and Meseret Gola are out to change that script and have the title. 

If Chepkemoi, who is the fastest competitor on paper from the elite field, wins, she will be the first Kenyan winner of this race since Catherine Ndereba claimed victory back in 2006.

Chepkemoi and Hailu have competed before, at the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon, where both women set their lifetime bests. 

Kenya’s Chepkemoi finished just one second ahead of Hailu on that occasion, 2:20:18 to 2:20:19, so the Ethiopian will he highly motivated for revenge.

Full calendar for title-chasing Wanyonyi after police graduation

Both women went on to contest two marathons in 2022. Chepkemoi won in Enschede in 2:21:10 and then ran 2:25:12 in Berlin, but finished outside the top 10. 

Hailu, meanwhile, won in Rotterdam in 2:22:01 but then failed to finish in Chicago.

So this race will be a chance for redemption after both women had somewhat frustrating performances in their big city races at the end of last year. 

But Gola, Hailu’s fellow Ethiopian, should also be in contention for victory. A consistent performer, she has finished runner-up in four of her past six marathons. 

She set a PB of 2:20:50 when finishing second in Seville last year, and came close to matching that in Berlin seven months later with a 2:20:58 clocking to place fifth, comfortably ahead of Chepkemoi.

Uphill task for Wanjiru and co as Tokyo marathon field is named

There is, as always, a strong contingent of Japanese runners in the field. For many, the focus will be on qualifying for the Marathon Grand Championship – Japan’s Olympic trial race – in October later this year.

Organisers have made a few changes to the course for this year, which they say is just as fast as the old one, although there appears to be a few more inclines than before. The existing course record is 2:20:52, set last year by Mizuki Matsuda.

Elite field

Maurine Chepkemoi (KEN) 2:20:18

Haven Hailu (ETH) 2:20:19

Meseret Gola (ETH) 2:20:50

Yuka Ando (JPN) 2:21:36

Sayaka Sato (JPN) 2:22:13

Mao Uesugi (JPN) 2:22:29

Reia Iwade (JPN) 2:23:52

Sairi Maeda (JPN) 2:25:25

Haruka Yamaguchi (JPN) 2:26:35

Chiharu Ikeda (JPN) 2:26:50

Risper Gesabwa (MEX) 2:26:55

Munkhzaya Bayartsogt (MGL) 2:28:03

Shiho Kaneshige (JPN) 2:28:51

Alice Wright (GBR) 2:29:08

Sakiho Tsutsui (JPN) debut

Yumi Yoshikawa (JPN) debut