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Reiko Tosa turned back all challengers to win today's Tokyo International Ladies Marathon. In rainy and cool conditions, Tosa stopped the clock at 2:26:15, more than two and one-half minutes ahead of compatriot Akemi Ozaki who set a personal best 2:28:51. Defending champion and 2000 Olympic Marathon gold medalist, Naoko Takahashi, was a distant third in 2:31:22.
Tosa, 30, who finished third at last April's BAA Boston Marathon, left Takahashi in the 32nd kilometer to seal her victory. The pair had built a lead of about one minute over the rest of the field, when Takahashi began to fade. The drama ended there.
The overseas competitors did not offer Tosa much of a challenge. European Championships silver medalist, Olivera Jevtic of Serbia, could only manage fourth place in 2:33:11, while last year's runner-up, Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania, finished fifth in 2:33:18. American Jen Rhines was seventh in 2:35:37.
For Tosa the news was not all good. The Japan Amateur Athletics Federation, the governing body for athletics in Japan, had set 2:26:00 as the minimum time the top Japanese runner at this race needed to achieve to assure selection for their team at next summer's IAAF World Championships Marathon which will be held in Osaka. Tosa will now have to wait for the results of January's Osaka and March's Nagoya marathons to find out if she made the team. Tosa won the silver medal at the 2001 IAAF World Championships Marathon in Edmonton.
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